https://www.scmp.com/rss/301087/feed On March 28, 2013, dock workers at Kwai Tsing took industrial action seeking a 17 per cent pay rise. The port is operated by Hongkong International Terminals (HIT). en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Ten years after a strike by workers at a container port in Hong Kong, labour rights advocates have said they are still struggling to chart the way forward for their cause amid an uncertain political climate and a fear of crossing political red lines. Former union members lamented the demise of workers’ groups in Hong Kong following a clampdown by authorities in the aftermath of the 2019 anti-government protests, but others argued there was still leeway in society for employees to exercise their... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3217223/hong-kong-protests-labour-rights-advocates-lament-uncertain-future-10-years-after-dockworkers-strike?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3217223/hong-kong-protests-labour-rights-advocates-lament-uncertain-future-10-years-after-dockworkers-strike?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Apr 2023 01:00:21 +0000 Hong Kong’s most influential opposition trade union will instruct its auditor to appraise its assets as part of the organisation’s winding up. Announcing the disbandment of the Confederation of Trade Unions (CTU) on Sunday, chairman Joe Wong Nai-yuen did not give an estimate for the overall worth of the assets but said it hoped to donate some of them to other labour unions. “We hope that would be able to help workers to get more assistance when they face [unfairness] in the future,” Wong... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3149218/opposition-trade-union-took-hong-kong-tycoons-over-decades?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3149218/opposition-trade-union-took-hong-kong-tycoons-over-decades?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Sep 2021 16:04:43 +0000 Dock workers at Hongkong International Terminals (HIT), the port operator hit by a five-week strike over wages last year, could see their pay go up by 10.1 per cent from next month. Base salaries will increase by 6 per cent, and the company would offer an additional 4.1 per cent in incentive income. HIT said its contractors had also agreed to the pay rise. It quoted the contractors as saying that over 95 per cent of their workers had agreed to the deal. But Chan Chiu-wai, of the Confederation of... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1481062/hongkong-international-terminals-dockers-offered-10pc-pay-rise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1481062/hongkong-international-terminals-dockers-offered-10pc-pay-rise?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Apr 2014 22:21:18 +0000 The city's largest port operator announced yesterday it would guarantee all dockers hired by subcontractors would get a pay rise higher than the inflation rate in the wake of last year's strike. Hongkong International Terminals (HIT) also warned its subcontractors that their contracts may not be renewed if they were found to have failed to treat their workers fairly. But last night the promise of a pay rise higher than last year's inflation rate - 4.3 per cent - was greeted with disappointment... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1450202/port-operators-pay-guarantee-dockers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1450202/port-operators-pay-guarantee-dockers?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Mar 2014 21:05:22 +0000 Three dockers have been laid off unfairly after they took part in a 40-day strike at the Kwai Tsing Container Terminals, the Union of Hong Kong Dockers claims. The union, which organised the walkout over pay and work conditions, said yesterday that three workers of port contractor Pui Kee Stevedore had recently been dismissed from their jobs. Two were told that minor breaches - forgetting to don a safety helmet and playing with his mobile phone while at work - cost them their jobs. The third was... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1249102/three-dock-strikers-sacked-unfairly-says-union?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1249102/three-dock-strikers-sacked-unfairly-says-union?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 May 2013 11:30:24 +0000 During the recent 40-day dock-workers strike, owners of the Kwai Chung Container Terminal and the Cheung Kong Centre applied to the Court for interlocutory injunctions to restrict named and unnamed individuals from demonstrating on their land. In both cases, injunctions were granted, although in more limited terms than originally requested because the court had to weigh the rights of private property owners to enjoy their land against the constitutional and statutory rights of individuals to... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1248390/hong-kong-injunctions-balanced-striking-dock-worker-landowner?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1248390/hong-kong-injunctions-balanced-striking-dock-worker-landowner?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000 The 12 per cent slide in Hong Kong's container throughput last month underpinned a structural problem exacerbated by a strike at one of the terminals last month, a port operator said. Hung Tam-yuen, the chairman of Turbo Maritime, which has operated barge services to mainland cities for more than 20 years, is worried that an increasing number of exporters will switch to ports in Shenzhen and Nansha, Guangzhou. Buyers in the United States and Europe were told to use mainland ports to avoid any... https://www.scmp.com/business/economy/article/1239321/april-cargo-decline-points-structural-problem?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/economy/article/1239321/april-cargo-decline-points-structural-problem?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000 The longest strike in Hong Kong's history caused a "huge" drop of almost 11 per cent in container volume at the Kwai Tsing Container Terminals last month. Port operator Hongkong International Terminals - the target of the dock workers' 40-day strike which ended after they accepted a 9.8 per cent pay rise - said its operations had returned to normal. But Dr Paul Tsui Hon-yan, chairman of the Association of Freight Forwarding & Logistics, said last month's drop was huge and that many shippers had... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1238591/kwai-tsing-port-business-suffers-huge-11pc-drop-dockers-strike?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1238591/kwai-tsing-port-business-suffers-huge-11pc-drop-dockers-strike?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Before March 28, few outside the shipyards of Hong Kong had heard of Stanley Ho Wai-hong. Then the dockers walked out. It was to become one of the longest strikes in the city's history, and Stanley Ho was at its helm. The Union of Hong Kong Dockers' general secretary and organiser of the strike appeared on television and in the newspapers every day throughout the 40-day walkout. Ho, who turns 29 next month, said he never entertained the thought of giving up. Not when he was armed with the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1236266/new-kid-dock-stanley-ho-makes-strike-history?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1236266/new-kid-dock-stanley-ho-makes-strike-history?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000 The first batch of more than 300 dockers who were on strike will report back to work today, but arrangements for the remaining 108 have still to be settled. The Union of Hong Kong Dockers gave an update on the state of the workers last night after some of Everbest Port Services' striking dockers threatened not to return to work. Everbest worker Leung Kam-cheung said that during a Tuesday dinner with company representatives, one of them made comments on the 40-day action that angered the strikers... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1233130/dockers-return-work-amid-post-strike-dispute?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1233130/dockers-return-work-amid-post-strike-dispute?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Before March 28, they were just a bunch of contract dockers at the Kwai Tsing Container Terminals who were dissatisfied with their wages and conditions but had never made their voices heard. That day they told themselves they had had enough and walked out on strike - not realising the industrial action would last for 40 days. Some of the 430 strikers working for contractors under tycoon Li Ka-shing's port operator Hongkong International Terminals said they had thought about giving up but stuck... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1232522/dockers-reflect-fight-dignity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1232522/dockers-reflect-fight-dignity?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000 No one emerged as a winner from the 40-day dockers strike, with the workers failing to get the raise they demanded and the port operator involved suffering a tarnished image, analysts said. And a day after the strike ended on Monday with the 430 dockers accepting a 9.8 per cent raise, port operator Hongkong International Terminals (HIT) estimated the impact the industrial action had made on its business, saying about 100 vessels avoided its terminals during the stoppage. That was believed to... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1232519/everyone-loser-after-hong-kong-dock-strike-ends?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1232519/everyone-loser-after-hong-kong-dock-strike-ends?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Striking dockers and unionists are allowed to continue camping outside the Cheung Kong Center in Central until a formal hearing on a permanent injunction against them is heard around July, the court ruled yesterday. The decision came just hours before the Kwai Tsing port workers accepted a 9.8 per cent pay rise offered by four dock contractors and announced an end to their 40-day walkout. An interim injunction will continue to bar them from entering the flagship building of Cheung Kong, the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1231691/strikers-wont-be-removed-yet?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1231691/strikers-wont-be-removed-yet?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Striking dockers yesterday accepted a 9.8 per cent pay rise, ending one of the longest walkouts in the city's history. The deadlock was broken when four contractors pledged to write the increase into their contracts and to improve conditions, one of the strike leaders said. Just two days ago, the strikers voted unanimously against a 9.8 per cent rise, insisting on a "double digit" increase. The salary rise will be backdated to May 1. Union of Hong Kong Dockers spokesman Stanley Ho Wai-hong said:... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1231549/strike-ends-after-40-days-dockers-accept-98pc-pay-rise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1231549/strike-ends-after-40-days-dockers-accept-98pc-pay-rise?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 May 2013 11:23:11 +0000 The majority of dockers support a 9.8 per cent pay rise offered by four strike-hit contractors, according to one of the unions. Some 66 per cent of the nearly 200 dockers polled in the past two days back the 9.8 per cent offer, which was made on Friday night, the Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions said. But it was rejected by 22 per cent of those interviewed, the union said. And most of the dock workers were pressing for an annual salary review. The federation denied it was trying... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1230805/most-dockers-favour-pay-offer-says-union?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1230805/most-dockers-favour-pay-offer-says-union?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Striking dockers yesterday rejected a 9.8 per cent pay rise offer from their employers, and said they would only settle the dispute through negotiations over pay and conditions. Leaders of the strike at the Kwai Tsing container terminals, now the longest in Hong Kong industrial relations history, said the offer - made on Friday - fell short of the double-digit pay rise they wanted and did not cover issues involving working conditions which are also in dispute. The latest twist in the industrial... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1230301/hong-kong-dockers-reject-98pc-pay-rise-offer-dutch-show-their-support?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1230301/hong-kong-dockers-reject-98pc-pay-rise-offer-dutch-show-their-support?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Four contractors offered their workers a 9.8 per cent pay rise last night in what they said was their final bid to bring an end to the dockers' strike, which enters its 38th day today. The contractors - Everbest Port Services, Pui Kee Stevedore Company, Lem Wing Transportation and Comcheung Human Resources - said they would not engage in more talks over the pay dispute. The striking dockers, who earlier demanded a 20 per cent rise but later softened their stance to ask for "a double-digit rate",... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1229673/contractors-make-striking-hong-kong-dockers-98pc-last-offer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1229673/contractors-make-striking-hong-kong-dockers-98pc-last-offer?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000 More than 80 dockers have walked off the job to join the industrial action that enters its 40th day on Monday as the fifth round of talks involving the strikers, a main contractor and the port operator ended without progress. The new strikers, from contractor Comcheung Human Resources, walked out of the Kwai Tsing container terminals yesterday morning, saying their employer had not fulfilled an earlier promise to increase wages. There are now 530 workers taking part in the strike. Comcheung... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1228677/80-more-dockers-join-strike-fresh-talks-fail?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1228677/80-more-dockers-join-strike-fresh-talks-fail?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000 The contractor employing striking Hong Kong dockers refused to raise its pay increase offer last night, a unionist said, dashing hopes the five-week-old work stoppage was nearing its end. Emerging from seven-and-a-half hours of talks, Union of Hong Kong Dockers spokesman Stanley Ho Wai-hong accused Everbest Port Services of being insincere. "We are disappointed … We have not seen [Everbest] make any concession," he said. We are disappointed … We have not seen [Everbest] make any... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1226980/dockers-and-contractors-talks-end-strike?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1226980/dockers-and-contractors-talks-end-strike?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:55:40 +0000 After decades of investment and growth that once established it as the largest port facility in the world, the port of Hong Kong now risks losing business and its global leadership to competitors from Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and mainland China. These lost cargoes would adversely affect not only the dockers but thousands of others who are involved in related businesses in Hong Kong's pivotally important logistics chain. For those of us anxious to agree on a positive outcome to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1226078/leave-political-grandstanding-out-negotiations-over-dockers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1226078/leave-political-grandstanding-out-negotiations-over-dockers?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Striking dock workers say they have decided to meet the contractor at the centre of their month-long pay dispute, without the other contractors involved. The Union of Hong Kong Dockers had insisted it would not resume talks if they were only with contractor Everbest Port Services, which employs 300 of the 450 workers who walked off the job on March 28. But union spokesman Stanley Ho Wai-hong yesterday said they were willing to go back to the negotiating table with Everbest in an attempt to break... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1225445/striking-dockers-agree-meet-key-contractor-alone?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1225445/striking-dockers-agree-meet-key-contractor-alone?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 The striking dockers last night made an unannounced move to mark their walkout's first month by marching to Government House, although their target, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, had yet to return from his Beijing trip. Chaos ensued and traffic lanes on Garden Road were blocked when the dockers tried to break police blockades on their route that started from the Cheung Kong Center in Central, where hundreds of strikers and their supporters had earlier gathered for their second public... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1224255/striking-dockers-make-surprise-march-government-house?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1224255/striking-dockers-make-surprise-march-government-house?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 While the dockers strike is costing Hongkong International Terminals a reported HK$5 million a day, the actual cost of the dispute is costing the maritime and logistics industry much more as ships and cargo are diverted to other ports. Alan Lee Yiu-kwong, chairman of the Hong Kong Container Terminal Operators Association, said it was too early to estimate how much the month-long dispute was costing and how much cargo Hong Kong had lost. The association represents the terminal companies including... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1224075/shipping-lines-and-logistics-industry-suffer-dock-strike?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1224075/shipping-lines-and-logistics-industry-suffer-dock-strike?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Tycoon Li Ka-shing’s Hutchison Whampoa on Friday accused unionists and dock workers of making their strike a “class struggle” against the rich and not genuinely seeking a pay rise. Hutchison singled out unionist Lee Cheuk-yan, the Confederation of Trade Unions and the Union of Hong Kong Dockers for condemnation in a statement published in several Chinese-language newspapers. This was the first response by the company to the four-week long strike by dock workers. Hutchison is the parent company... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1223810/hutchison-attacks-striking-dockers-over-class-struggle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1223810/hutchison-attacks-striking-dockers-over-class-struggle?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:20:21 +0000 Cheung Kong on Friday afternoon obtained an injunction against demonstrators outside its Central headquarters, barring them from entering the office tower but permitting them to protest outside. Granting the injunction, Mr Justice Derek Pang Wai-cheong, of the Court of First Instance, said: “Since you have confined yourself to the office tower and a balance is sought, I will grant the injunction until next Friday.” The judge earlier said he would not deal with the injunction application seeking... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1223779/no-chanting-no-entering-cheung-kong-court-tells-protesting-dockers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1223779/no-chanting-no-entering-cheung-kong-court-tells-protesting-dockers?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Apr 2013 07:54:11 +0000 Behind clichés, tycoon Li is a force for good We regret that the article ("Attack on tycoons with no conscience", April 22) helped perpetuate stereotypes at the expense of truth. The Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa groups - which are firmly rooted in Hong Kong - are a corporate family of 270,000 employees across 52 nations. These employees provide for their families and contribute to their communities. In recent years, Li Ka-shing has focused a great part of his time on philanthropy, including... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1223217/letters-editor-april-26-2013?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1223217/letters-editor-april-26-2013?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Industrial action is a powerful weapon during an economic upturn or in a rising industry because the employers have a lot to lose with any stoppage. This single factor accounts for the frequent and successful industrial action in the local airlines. Sad to say this does not apply to our cargo-handling industry. This is especially true when the biggest shareholder of the company involved in the current dispute, Hongkong International Terminals (HIT), happens to own a share of an expanding... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1222983/striking-dock-workers-are-pawns-dissident-campaign?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1222983/striking-dock-workers-are-pawns-dissident-campaign?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Tycoon Li Ka-shing's flagship Cheung Kong company dealt a blow to striking dockers yesterday, seeking an injunction in the High Court to keep them away from its headquarters in Central. Mr Justice Derek Pang Wai-cheong, sitting in the Court of First Instance, said he would not hear the application in the absence of the demonstrators because it involved a constitutional right to demonstrate and freedom of expression. "My question is what the urgency of this application is. I walked past twice... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1223146/li-ka-shings-flagship-cheung-kong-asks-court-drive-out-strikers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1223146/li-ka-shings-flagship-cheung-kong-asks-court-drive-out-strikers?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Cheung Kong put up notices around the dock strike’s base in Central on Thursday, urging the workers to leave or risk being criminally prosecuted. The notices said part of the area outside Cheung Kong Center was private property. The area can be used by the public for passage, it said, but they are not allowed to occupy, obstruct or “cause a nuisance by erecting structures or placing other articles” there. Since April 17, strikers have been camped out the corporate headquarters of Li Ka-shing’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1222668/you-are-trespassers-cheung-kong-tells-dock-strikers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1222668/you-are-trespassers-cheung-kong-tells-dock-strikers?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Apr 2013 02:43:33 +0000 Patience is wearing thin as the strike at the container terminal has dragged on for weeks without any sign of coming to an end. Over the weekend, the situation worsened after bosses and unionists stepped up attacks against each other. The escalating tension is not just counter-productive to negotiations, it also risks provoking public anger against the rich and powerful if the consortium behind the scenes continues to stay away. Instead of trading insults through the media, the parties concerned... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1222279/get-back-talks-hong-kong-dock-dispute?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1222279/get-back-talks-hong-kong-dock-dispute?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:09:13 +0000 A main dock contractor caught in the thick of a pay dispute at the Kwai Tsing port has hired 50 new dockers and is sure it can do without all 300 striking workers in two weeks, the company says. Everbest Port Services would need to recruit only a total of 100 dockers to get all its operations in full swing again, although the new hires would have to work much harder to cover the duties of the 300 strikers, representative Dick Wong Chi-tak said. The company has another 150 dockers who are not... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1222502/300-strikers-can-be-replaced-2-weeks-contractor-everbest-warns?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1222502/300-strikers-can-be-replaced-2-weeks-contractor-everbest-warns?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 More than 20 supporters of striking dock workers went undercover to evade security at the Cheung Kong Center and take the dockers’ grievances inside the corporate headquarters of billionaire property and telecoms tycoon Li Ka-shing on Wednesday. The protesters – including students and activists – evaded security guards on the ground floor by wearing business suits and went straight to the Cheung Kong offices on the seventh floor of the building in Central. Once inside they unfurled banners and... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1222181/dockers-supporters-take-protest-lis-corporate-offices?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1222181/dockers-supporters-take-protest-lis-corporate-offices?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Apr 2013 08:26:22 +0000 The union representing the 450 striking dockers says it will come up with a new bottom line in the next couple of days in a bid for a "breakthrough" in the workers' weeks-long walkout. Speaking after a three-hour meeting with half of the striking dockers on the 27th day of the industrial action yesterday, Union of Hong Kong Dockers spokesman Stanley Ho Wai-hong said the union had yet to come to a decision on the new bottom line, but it would definitely be a "two-digit number". "It could be 11... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1221680/striking-dockers-adjust-their-20pc-pay-rise-bottom-line?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1221680/striking-dockers-adjust-their-20pc-pay-rise-bottom-line?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 We badly need anti-monopoly legislation I write as a former member of the Legislative Council. Throughout the history of Hong Kong, there has never been a level playing field. Under colonial rule, businesses were dominated by British hongs. Since the handover, the SAR government has continued to promote policies which have enabled a few families to control the livelihood of the majority - from real estate and electricity to telecommunications and food supplies. Hong Kong prides itself as a world... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1221670/letters-editor-april-24-2013?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1221670/letters-editor-april-24-2013?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Striking dockers have beaten academic Benny Tai Yiu-ting to occupy Central. And they have even picked the perfect symbol of the city's so-called property hegemony - the Cheung Kong Center at 2 Queen's Road Central. There may be other local tycoons, but no one approaches the influence and prestige of Cheung Kong supremo Li Ka-shing, whose business empire covers most walks of life in the city like the "vampire squid" that has been used to describe the global influence of Goldman Sachs. In this... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1221724/strikers-right-put-tycoon-dock?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1221724/strikers-right-put-tycoon-dock?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 The strike-hit port operator placed its third advertisement in newspapers on Tuesday, saying it needed to offer “the truth behind twisted remarks” earlier made by the strike organiser. In the heavily worded advertisement, the Hongkong International Terminals (HIT) said that the advertisement placed by strike organiser Union of Hong Kong Dockers was “misleading” and that it needed to offer clarification. The HIT advertisement criticised the union and union leader Lee Cheuk-yan for changing their... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1221366/port-operator-hit-seeks-clarify-misleading-ad-strikers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1221366/port-operator-hit-seeks-clarify-misleading-ad-strikers?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Apr 2013 04:29:44 +0000 Open spaces must be kept at Kai Tak site Every day I look out of my window at Kai Tak and think about the great potential the area has and how it can dramatically improve the lives of people across Hong Kong. It is a large, flat and square area that should become an oasis within busy Hong Kong. It has all the potential to become a landmark like New York's Central Park or London's Canary Wharf (should be even better). If done right, it will become a point of pride for the people of Hong Kong. I... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1220978/letters-editor-april-23-2013?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1220978/letters-editor-april-23-2013?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung met dockers for the first time yesterday in an apparent attempt to put an end to their 26-day strike. Speaking after the two-hour meeting, Cheung said it had been "frank" and "useful". But strike organiser the Confederation of Trade Unions said it was disappointing as Cheung had not offered the help needed. The minister said he told the CTU to resume talks with contractor Everbest Port Services as soon as possible although another... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1220926/labour-chief-meets-hong-kongs-striking-dockers-bid-end-26-day-strike?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1220926/labour-chief-meets-hong-kongs-striking-dockers-bid-end-26-day-strike?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Three non-striking dockers from two contractors broke their silence yesterday in an interview arranged by strike-hit port operator Hongkong International Terminals, saying their working conditions are not as bad as the strikers say they are. But their accounts were criticised by their striking counterparts, who said two were "princelings" of contractor Everbest Port Services owners and long entitled to much better pay. Everbest dockers Lam Wai-yin and Yu Wai-wing, both stevedores, said the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1220881/dockers-offer-different-viewpoint?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1220881/dockers-offer-different-viewpoint?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Non-striking dock workers on Monday challenged striking dockers’ claims about working conditions in the Kwai Tsing container terminals, saying what they faced was not as dire as the strikers claim. Three workers who have not participated in the three-week strike spoke about their work experiences during a press conference on Monday arranged by port operator Hongkong International Terminals. One of the workers, a crane operator surnamed Chan, contested the dire stories told by strikers of having... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1220862/non-striking-dockers-challenge-strikers-work-conditions-claims?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1220862/non-striking-dockers-challenge-strikers-work-conditions-claims?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:13:47 +0000 Dock workers and the strike-hit port operator both placed advertisements in several newspapers on Monday as the labour dispute has stretched on for nearly a month. The advertisement by the strike organiser, Union of Hong Kong Dockers, justified its demand for a pay rise of about 20 per cent because of inflation and “exploitation” in the last 18 years. For example, the advertisement said, dock workers earned HK$1,456 for a 24-hour shift in 1995, but would now earn only HK$1,315. It also rebutted... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1220554/hong-kong-dock-labour-dispute-takes-fight-newspaper-pages?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1220554/hong-kong-dock-labour-dispute-takes-fight-newspaper-pages?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Apr 2013 04:43:19 +0000 Political veteran Elsie Tu laments the widening income disparity in Hong Kong and has taken a shot at tycoons who have no conscience. The former lawmaker and urban councillor, who turns 100 on June 2, became emotional when expressing sympathy for striking dock workers and anger with a billionaire, whom she declined to name. "I think shame on you. Why should you have [billions of dollars] when the poor can't even buy meat for their children's food?" she said. "How could you have [billions of... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1220175/hong-kong-political-veteran-elsie-tu-criticises-tycoons-no-conscience?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1220175/hong-kong-political-veteran-elsie-tu-criticises-tycoons-no-conscience?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Striking dock workers wanted to make sure their "ultimate boss" heard their calls yesterday, shifting their protest from outside billionaire Li Ka-shing's headquarters to his home. The usually sleepy corner of Deep Water Bay was overtaken by about 60 dockers, their families and unionists, who spent the morning chanting slogans. Some waved placards, reading: "Grandpa Ka-shing, where are you? Pay us!" Some of the protesters said they were hoping Li would respond directly to their demands. But it... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1220085/dockers-drive-home-message-li-ka-shing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1220085/dockers-drive-home-message-li-ka-shing?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Tensions over the dockers' strike rose further yesterday as one of Li Ka-shing's top lieutenants publicly slammed unionist lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan. Canning Fok Kin-ning claimed Lee was not genuinely interested in helping the workers and harboured ulterior motives. "Lee Cheuk-yan resorts to every means - he doesn't want an outcome at all, hoping that as the strike drags on, he can negotiate with Mr Li so as to boost his own publicity," Fok, Hutchison Whampoa's group managing director, said to... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1219490/hutchison-whampoa-attacks-unionist-lawmaker-first-comments-dockers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1219490/hutchison-whampoa-attacks-unionist-lawmaker-first-comments-dockers?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 20 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 True patriots should reject sabre rattling The danger of a conflict between China and Japan over islands in disputed waters, such as the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, is always possible, given the rise of militarism in both countries. Although both nations have suffered terribly in the past because of war, history teaches us that when the suffering of past wars is forgotten, a new generation can easily revive the same militaristic ethos which led to earlier disasters. A recent example... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1219270/letters-editor-april-21?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1219270/letters-editor-april-21?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 20 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 When veteran Australian unionist Joe Deakin found out about the working conditions Hong Kong dockers had to endure, he described it as a "living hell". Deakin, assistant branch secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia, flew to Hong Kong on Monday with seven other unionists to show support for the 450 striking dockers. "The conditions in the terminals here are just shocking," said Deakin, who visited the Kwai Tsing container terminals during his stay. "It is a living hell for these people,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1218624/dockers-plight-living-hell-unionist?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1218624/dockers-plight-living-hell-unionist?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Time to put rogue bankers behind bars I watched the US Senate hearings into the JPMorgan US$6.2 billion loss on credit derivatives. Banks justify their huge bonuses, saying that they are needed to attract talent. If the collection of mumbling, fumbling, buck-passing individuals who testified are the best talent available, it is not surprising that the banks are in such a mess. A woman who said that she had "tried her best" admitted that she did not know what was happening in her own department.... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1218755/letters-editor-april-20-2013?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1218755/letters-editor-april-20-2013?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Shippers have worked out a back-up plan to move Hong Kong cargo through ports in Guangdong with no end in sight to the Kwai Tsing dock strike. The Hong Kong Shippers' Council also said Guangdong customs had agreed to speed up clearance of diverted shipments. The move follows the visit by a joint delegation from the council and the Federation of Hong Kong Industries to the province earlier this week. Council chairman Willy Lin Sun-mo, whose group represents exporters, importers, traders and... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1218761/hk-shippers-will-divert-cargo-guangdong-ports-beat-dock-strike?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1218761/hk-shippers-will-divert-cargo-guangdong-ports-beat-dock-strike?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Dock workers hired by one closing contractor vowed on Friday to continue their strike despite being offered better-paying jobs by other contractors. Ah Hong, a crane driver with contractor Global Stevedoring Service, said other contractors in Kwai Tsing container terminals had offered him and his colleagues a pay rise if they join them and return to work. The rate was not specified, he said, and the job offers were made after Global announced on Thursday it planned to close down in June due to... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1218618/dockers-vow-continue-strike-despite-new-job-offers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1218618/dockers-vow-continue-strike-despite-new-job-offers?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:37:47 +0000 A dock contractor at the centre of a weeks-old pay dispute dropped a bombshell on striking dockers yesterday, announcing it would put up the shutters after June 30. Global Stevedoring Service said it could not keep up its business any more with about three-quarters of its 170 dockers on strike for 22 days - and counting. Another main contractor that had also been mired in the row said it did not intend to follow suit as its operation had been recovering from the mass walkout at the Kwai Tsing... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1217745/beleaguered-dock-contractor-close-down?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1217745/beleaguered-dock-contractor-close-down?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000