Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam vows to continue improving labour rights in final months of tenure after ‘hard-earned results’
- Carrie Lam says in article that an unnamed unionist praised her for resolving issues relating to workers’ rights
- Lam cites introduction of five-day statutory paternity leave for men and 14-week maternity leave for women as examples of her administration’s work
In an article published on Sunday to mark Labour Day, Lam said her administration had made “exemplary achievements in respect of labour rights”, adding that an unnamed unionist had praised her for resolving many issues relating to workers’ rights.
She summed up her administration’s “hard-earned results” in the paper, citing as examples the introduction of a five-day statutory paternity leave for men and a 14-week maternity leave for women.
Lam also highlighted a new unit under the Labour Department created to handle issues relating to domestic workers, as well as an increase in the number of places for members of ethnic minority groups to receive employment retraining courses.
“Despite the unprecedented challenges that the current-term government has faced, with the joint efforts of various parties, we have made exemplary achievements in respect of labour rights,” Lam wrote.
“I still remember when I conducted the consultation exercise for the 2021 policy address last year, a veteran union leader told me in private that they had never imagined that so many problems that had beset the labour sector for more than a decade could have been resolved within one term of government.”