CHINA: More than 100 striking dock workers camp outside Li Ka-shing headquarters in Hong Kong

Record ID: 341139

  • Title: CHINA: More than 100 striking dock workers camp outside Li Ka-shing headquarters in Hong Kong
  • Date: 18th April 2013
  • Summary: HONG KONG, CHINA (APRIL 18, 2013) (REUTERS) PROTESTING DOCK WORKERS BLOCKING TRAFFIC AND SHOUTING BANNER READING: "RICHEST CHINESE IN THE WORLD EXPLOITS WORKERS TO BECOME RICH" VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING WITH PICTURE DEPICTING RICHEST MAN IN ASIA, LI KA-SHING, AS DEVIL AND SHOUTING "FUCKER, LI KA-SHING, VAMPIRE" PROTESTER SHOUTING BANNERS IN FRONT OF HUTCHISON LOGO /P
  • Embargoed: 3rd May 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Hong Kong, China
  • City:
  • Country: Hong Kong
  • Topics: Business,Employment,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA73FGR27RLVVTC7B2A90YP2QBA
  • Story Text: More than 100 striking dock workers marched through central Hong Kong on Thursday (April 18) pressing demands for a pay rise at a port operated by Asia's richest man, that has disrupted traffic in the world's third-largest container port.
    Carrying cardboard cut-outs of Li Ka-shing and chanting slogans, the workers marched from the Cheung Kong Centre, outside where many had spent the night, to the Hutchinson Building. Both buildings are headquarters for the tycoon's various businesses.
    The workers, on strike for 22 days, seek an increase of about 20 percent from contractors who supply workers for port operator Hongkong International Terminals (HIT), a unit of Li's Hutchison Whampoa.
    Global Stevedoring Service, one of the contractors in talks with the unions, announced on Thursday (April 18) late afternoon it would end its business in June.
    Around 100 of the striking workers are employees of Global. In the statement, Global said nearly 75 percent of its employees took part in the strike.
    Global said it is unable to meet the unions' demand to raise workers' salaries by 20 percent.
    "So why aren't HIT (Hongkong International Terminals) paying the workers a decent wage and allowing them to go to the toilet, have a lunch break, and that's a, you know, minimal demand from the part of the union. So I would say, we sympathise with some contractors, they are not our target, HIT is our target, they should pay the workers a decent wage. So I would suggest that some contractor ask HIT to foot the bill and that is always exactly what we have been asking for," said Lee Cheuk Yan, General Secretary of the Confederation of Trade Unions.
    HIT, which has left it up to contractors and strikers to negotiate, expressed its regrets over Global's announcement, it said in a statement, adding that the three-week long strike is affecting all walks of life in Hong Kong. It also asked workers to remain calm and continue negotiations.
    "Emotions are running high. We are always protesting. We want to go (outside of the camp site) and walk around and vent our emotions in the bottom of our hearts. We have been enduring this for the fourth week. Some individuals may start to lose control. They may get confused where they are, or even do things that we cannot control," said Ng Shu-ming, a striking dock worker who had camped out overnight.
    Representatives of the 450 strikers said they would remain outside Cheung Kong Centre in the city's financial district to persuade Li Ka-shing to intervene.
    Unionists say they have had no pay increase for 10 years. Other demands have included improving hygiene facilities.
    HIT said on Wednesday (April 17) it hoped workers would consider a seven percent pay rise proposed by contractors. The strikers have rejected this offer.
    Hong Kong, the gateway to mainland China's manufacturing heartland, is the world's third-largest port, after Shanghai and Singapore, but the strike has diverted some traffic to the nearby Chinese port of Shenzhen, where Li also operates berths.
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