Bearing the brunt of the financial tsunami, the grass-root working class people have to face unreasonable pay-cut or even layoff. With an aim to protect labour interest, the labour sector has asked the government to give them the right of collective bargaining. Legislator Ip Wai-ming of the Federation of Trade Unions recently moved a motion in the Legislative Council urging the government to introduce legislation on collective bargaining. Although the motion received support from three major parties including the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), it was vetoed because a simple majority was not attained in the group of members returned by functional constituencies.
The debate on the legislation of collective bargaining has been going on for years. Mr Ip Wai-ming pointed out that some companies had used the financial tsunami as an excuse to cut pay and lay off staff even when they were making a profit; the unemployment rate had thus been pushed higher. He said that there was no protection for the employees and it was necessary to promulgate a law to safeguard the workers. He also urged the members of the functional constituencies and those from the business sector not to think of collective bargaining as something monstrous. He believed such a move could help to minimize misunderstanding between employers and employees, as well as to prevent radical actions.
The motion was supported by major political parties including DAB, the Democratic Party and the Civil Party. However, the SAR government, the Liberal Party and several members from the business sector made it clear that they would not support the legislation of collective bargaining under the existing conditions.
The vice-chairman of the Liberal Party, Tommy Cheung Yu-yan said that the coming months from March to August will see a low season for the small- and medium-sized enterprises and the closure of hundreds of restaurants can be anticipated. He said that if a controversial bill on labour rights was tabled at this moment, it might on the contrary result in adverse effects as the market would be affected. Even if the right of collective bargaining was eventually granted, it would merely be an act of gaining welfare benefits while undermining job security, he warned. translated by 開明
|