Blackballing minimum wage a bit rich

Business organisations in Hong Kong have a long record of opposing any advances in the rights or remuneration of employees including working hours, safety issues and access to publicly funded services. So it should be no surprise that the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce has taken to scaremongering over the amount of additional unemployment that would be created by a minimum monthly wage set at varying levels - an estimate of from 35,000 at a minimum of HK$4,000 to 152,000 at HK$6,000.

As the chamber did not reveal its methodology I will not argue whether or not these claims have any basis in reality. Minimum wage levels obviously can impact employment of the currently very low paid. But several aspects of its position raise issues.

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