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■將軍澳「日出康城」地盤約60名工人不滿被拖薪，日前以鐵欄堵塞環保大道，令交通癱瘓近4小時。
今年的農曆新年前夕，又有可能成為香港建造業及飲食業爆發工潮的高峰期。將軍澳「日出康城」建築地盤早前爆出60名地盤工人遭二判拖欠3、4個月薪金，一度引發工人堵塞馬路事件。
事件雖在大判墊支後初步得到解決，但香港建造業總工會形容事件僅為「冰山一角」，該會已接獲多宗勞資糾紛個案，估計於本月中旬後會發生更多拖糧工潮。而飲食業亦可能爆發結業潮，令不少打工仔可能無法過一個「安樂年」。
飲食業職工總會委員羅光明也透露，飲食業亦正在醞釀結業潮，位於葵涌的一間海鮮酒家於早前突然結業，涉及約80名員工，他們遭拖欠1個月薪金及代通知金，總數逾百萬元。
據了解，約10名員工已成功向僱主討回欠薪，約60人則向飲食業職工總會求助，涉及金額約120萬元。羅光明指出，據知該酒樓有盈餘，運作上亦無問題，不排除涉及欺詐情況，他們將於數天內聯同受影響僱員向勞工處求助。
不過，勞工及福利局局長張建宗表示，最近勞工市場氣氛良好，勞工處在2007年處理的大型勞資糾紛，較2006年減少3成以上。他解釋，每逢農曆新年前是敏感時間，個別企業或會出現周轉問題，導致欠薪，但相信現時當局對欠薪的罰則足夠。
Labor Disputes before Lunar Near Year
A protest by 60 workers demanding months of pay withheld by their employer at the construction site of a residential estate in Tseung Kwan O January 9 signals a possible surge of industrial actions, particularly by construction and restaurant workers, before the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays, union officials mediating the dispute said.
Though the primary contractor of the project managed to end the stoppage by paying the workers a lump sum on behalf of the subcontractor responsible for hiring and paying them, the Hong Kong Federation of Construction Industry Unions described the incident as “a tip of the ice burg” and predicted more of such protests could happen later this month demanding unpaid salaries. It also saw a possible increase of business closures in the restaurant and bar sector that could deprive those unemployed of a “happy New Year”.
An Eating Establishment Employees’General Union official said Wednesday the restaurant and bar sector is currently faced with a brewing tide of business closures, as one seafood restaurant in Kwai Chung suddenly folded on Monday, leaving some 80 employees jobless without the last month's salary and severance pay totaling over HK$1 million.
He said 10 of them had successfully obtained their unpaid salary while about 60 had sought help from EEEGU, saying a total of some HK$1.2 million was at stake. He added that the restaurant had had no financial trouble or problem operating as usual. He suspected a case of fraud was unfolding and promised to ask the Labor Department for help on behalf of the victimized workers.
However, the government seems to think otherwise, as Permanent Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung observed Wednesday that the labor market appeared quite well in recent weeks and the Labor Department handled over 30 percent less large-scale disputes last year than it did in 2006. He said a few businesses might have money problem around this sensitive time of the year and could not pay the employees on time, but he trusts the current penalty code is harsh enough to prevent large numbers of violations.
■春生 資深翻譯員
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