HONG KONG: Dock workers have demanded an 8.5 per cent pay rise and told contractors to start talks if they want to avoid a repeat of the strike that rocked the Kwai Tsing container terminals for 40 days in 2013.
Carlos Hung Chun-ngai, director general of the Union of Hong Kong Dockers, demanded contractors respond to their requests by Friday next week.
Otherwise, Hung said, the union would first organise a protest and then gradually escalate its actions, possibly culminating in a strike.
“We haven’t ruled out any actions that are necessary to make ends meet,” he said. His union represents 1,200 of the 3,000 workers hired by contractors at the Kwai Tsing terminals.
A spokeswoman for port operator Hongkong International Terminals (HIT) said the company was discussing the matter with the contractors. A pay rise would be announced soon and would go into effect on Friday next week, she said.
She did not give a figure but said it would be higher than the inflation rate. February’s composite consumer price index was up 4.6 per cent on the same period a year ago, according to official data.
In 2013, hundreds of dock workers employed by HIT contractors went on a strike to call for higher pay and better working conditions. They initially demanded a raise of about 17 per cent, saying their pay had gone up just once in 15 years.
They eventually accepted a 9.8 per cent pay rise, ending one of the longest walkouts in the history of Hong Kong.
Last year, they were offered, and eventually accepted, a further basic salary increase of 6 per cent and an extra 4.1 per cent performance-based raise, to be given to those who could maintain productivity at the same level as the second half of 2013.
One docker, Chan Yum-wo, said he and his fellow workers were not demanding a lot.
He became a docker in 1994 and was paid HK$1,436 for each 24-hour shift.
After their wages were cut in 1996, Chan’s pay then went up to HK$1,591 last year – a raise of just HK$155 in 20 years.
“This is a sum that just makes you want to cry,” he said.
Chan added that the raise was clearly not enough to keep pace with increasing food prices and rents over the years.
