Hong Kong’s biggest teachers’ union will be ‘on losing end of property deals’ if it rushes to sell off assets
- Professional Teachers’ Union’s current assets were worth HK$125 million by the end of 2020, with liabilities of HK$58 million
- 95,000-member group announced this week its plan to fold following a wave of criticism from state media over its political activism
Hong Kong’s biggest teachers’ union could be left on the losing end of property deals as the embattled body races to sell off substantial assets before its disbandment, analysts have said.
Members of the city’s political and education circles are also mixed on whether a pro-establishment counterpart of the Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union (PTU) can fill the impending vacuum left behind by the opposition-leaning group.
Wong Kwan-yu, president of the 30,000-member Federation of Education Workers (FEW), conceded it would take some time for his group, which is not registered as a union, to replace the PTU. He added however that his camp was setting up an official union that would work alongside the federation.
“We are still organising manpower, and finding some partners … In the future, the federation will focus on education policies, while the new group will focus on labour rights and handling cases,” he said.
The PTU, meanwhile, after revealing its decision to shut down amid political pressure, did not give an estimate of the total worth of its assets, or specify whether a liquidator would be appointed to sell them off. But president Fung Wai-wah said it would take until the end of the year to wind up with the help of financial experts and auditors.
He also promised that all 200 staff members made redundant would be properly compensated.