Late last week, it was reported that representatives of the striking workers -- the bar benders who put together the steel frames required in the construction of high-rise buildings -- lowered their demand to $HK900 for a day's work.
That's down from the initial demand of a day rate of HK$950 (the latter figure is ten dollars more than the day rate in 1994).
But they still stuck out for an eight-hour day. They currently work a nine-hour day from 8am to 6pm, with short breaks in the morning and afternoon as well as a break for lunch.
Last Friday, the bosses' organization -- Hong Kong Contractors' Association -- which had offered to raise the construction site metal workers' daily wage from HK$850 to HK$875 . . . withdrew their offer.
And then everybody walked away.
According to legislator and general secretary of Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions Lee Cheuk-yan, the emergency fund set up by CTU in aid of the strikers has reached HK$600,000, and HK$300,000 has been distributed among 993 workers.
The main site affected is one in To Kwa Wan in Kowloon. Meantime, flying pickets composed of 12-20 strikers at construction sites in Oil Street, North Point, and in Shatin, were this week met by large police presences (100 at the Shatin site).
So, where are we? The bosses have walked away from negotiations and are in no hurry to re-start. Plainly, they have decided to starve the strikers into submission.
We'll see.
Elsewhere, Angela Lam comments:
Whilst the immediate problem concerns the workers’ pay, it actually goes right up the chain. When there are few projects going round but many contractors to compete for them, bid prices go down to a level where some try to win a job at a loss, hoping to make up for it later by submitting claims for this and that. This is neither good for the contractors/workers’ sustainability nor the quality of the completed projects.For her solution and some perspective: Sustainable Building in Hong Kong
Is there any solution?
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