Hong Kong Dockers Continue 28-Day Strike Over Pay and Conditions

Subcontracted workers at the Port of Hong Kong have now been passed their 28th day on strike as they fight to secure acceptable working conditions and pay parity with directly employed staff.

Members of the Union of Hong Kong (UHKD) dockers have been picketing at Kwai Chung terminal in a bid to bring management from Hong Kong International Terminals (HIT), which is owned by global network terminal operator (GNT) Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH), back to the table for good faith negotiations. There is also a union presence outside the headquarters of (HPH). Today a notice has been issued to evict the strikers from this location and an application has been filed for an injunction banning demonstrators from the area.

Despite the continuation of the strike, there have been several notable developments in this dispute. A work-to-rule which has been being carried out by members of the HIT union has been halted after an agreement was made with HIT management to give overtime compensation of 1.4 times the hourly rate, a victory for the union.

In addition, Global Stevedoring, a contractor of HIT, has closed its operations blaming the UHKD strike action. The ITF believes this is an attempt to turn public opinion and isolate the union.

The ITF welcomes the agreement between HIT management and the HIT union and now calls for the same standards with regards good faith, transparent negotiation to be applied to the subcontracted workers of the UHKD who remain out on strike.