Vol. 77/No. 15      April 22, 2013

Striking longshore workers and supporters march through port of Hong Kong April 1. Truck drivers’ union called on all city truckers to take sick leave April 8 in support of dockworkers.

The walkout began March 28 when about 200 workers employed by subcontractors at Hongkong International Terminals walked off the job, demanding a 20 percent pay raise above their average $7 hourly pay. Contract companies have offered a 5 percent raise. Over the next few days the number of strikers grew to about 500.

On April 1 a Hong Kong court issued a temporary injunction barring strikers from entering any of the four container terminals involved in the dispute. The workers then regrouped their picketing outside the port.

“Some 1,000 people marched in support of the striking workers that day,” Elaine Hui, a student living in Hong Kong and spokesperson for Left21, a group organizing support for the walkout, said in a phone interview.

Four days later the court revised its injunction to allow 80 workers to protest inside the terminal.

“These workers’ wages are lower than in 1997,” said Hui. “They’re asking not just for a wage increase, but want to have bargaining each year.”

During the height of the season, dockworkers often work shifts of up to 72 consecutive hours, Chan Chiu-wai of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, told CNN. The workers are also demanding reinstatement of overtime pay.

Workers operating the cranes moving containers on and off the ships are forced at times to stay in operator cabins high above ground for 24 hours at a time.

On April 8 thousands in Hong Kong marched in support of the strikers, reported the South China Morning Post. Several days earlier more than 200 Hongkong International Terminals crane operators began working to rule — doing the minimum required in their contracts and descending to the ground for bathroom breaks.

The Logistics Industry and Container Truck Drivers Union has called on its 1,200 members and the rest of the city’s 20,000 truck drivers to go on collective sick leave April 8 to support the strike. The union is also demanding a 10 percent raise. Hongkong International Terminals is a subsidiary of Hutchison Port Holdings Trust, owned by billionaire Li Ka-shing. Hutchison directly employs 1,800 workers in Hong Kong and an additional 3,000 as contract workers on the docks.

Both Hongkong International Terminals and the contracting companies have refused to negotiate with the Union of Hong Kong Dockers, which represents about 500 workers at the terminal.

The striking workers account for some 30 to 40 percent of dockworkers at Hutchison’s terminals in Hong Kong, reported the Wall Street Journal. They are having a big impact in tying up port traffic in the waters of the South China Sea surrounding Hong Kong.
 
 
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