Union urges Hong Kong gov’t to investigate after non-local labourers say they were cheated out of pay
Hong Kong Free Press
A Hong Kong union has urged the government to look into a labour dispute that arose after dozens of mainland Chinese migrant labourers working on a hospital construction site said they had been cheated out of wages.
The Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union, a union under the pro-establishment Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, said on Facebook on Monday that over 30 imported labourers working on the redevelopment of Union Christian Hospital had protested outside the construction site on Monday morning.
The workers, who are from mainland China, said they had been cheated out of wages by a management agency, saying they had been overcharged agency service fees, utility fees, and fees for transportation and cleaning, according to the union.
Local media outlets reported that while the workers should earn HK$31,500 per month according to their contracts, they ultimately received HK$13,000 per month.
Monday’s protest marked the latest dispute concerning imported labour after the union last Thursday revealed that over 120 non-local construction workers said they had been cheated out of wages.
Hong Kong’s Development Bureau on Sunday said it had not approved any applications for non-local labourers in the latest round of applications following reports of labour exploitation and slow business in the construction industry.
‘Punishment’
The union said on Tuesday afternoon that the workers who had protested outside the hospital construction site on Monday had been fired by their management agency. The union then went to Shenzhen to support the workers while communicating with the Hong Kong government.
Under the scheme, non-local workers are required to seek jobs in Hong Kong through authorised mainland Chinese agents. Once they arrive in Hong Kong, employers will usually commission local agents to manage them.
The Development Bureau said on Tuesday evening that it had intervened in the case after receiving reports from the union, and that the main contractor of the construction site had said the workers involved should not have been laid off.
“The Development Bureau and relevant departments have already told the main contractor to strictly supervise their subcontractors, carefully handle issues of labour protection, and ensure that no imported workers’ rights are exploited,” the bureau said in a Chinese Facebook post.
It added: “when imported workers report issues concerning their rights, they should not be dismissed or face any form of punishment.”
Imports of non-local labour
Hong Kong last year sought to tackle a widespread labour crunch by significantly increasing the quota of non-local labour for certain industries, and expanding the sectors allowed to recruit outside the city.
Following the introduction of the Labour Importation Scheme for the construction sector last July, 9,731 non-local workers have arrived to work on various construction sites, according to government data.
The government also rolled out schemes for the transport sector and the residential care homes to hire a limited number of non-local staff.
Last December, it implemented a supplementary scheme allowing employers to hire non-local staff for 26 positions, including chefs, waitresses, cashiers, and salesmen without restrictions on how many.
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