Hong Kong’s second largest labour union to host forum instead of march to mark Labour Day
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong’s second largest labour union has announced that it will host a forum on occupational safety ahead of the upcoming Labour Day, marking the fifth consecutive year it had not held a march on May 1.
The Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions (HKFLU) said on its website on Sunday that the forum would be held in Sham Shui Po on April 27, the Saturday before the Labour Day public holiday. Participants who were able to correctly answer questions would be rewarded with supermarket coupons, the HKFLU added.
Under Secretary for Labour and Welfare Ho Ka-ming will officiate the forum, according to the website. Founded in 1984, the pro-Beijing union is currently the city’s second largest labour union.
In March, the group’s chairman Lam Chun-sing told HK01 that the HKFLU had not applied for a permit to hold a march for Labour Day. Instead, it planned to host a forum and petition for workers to express their opinions.
The group had discussed whether to host a protest march in February, Lam added, but eventually dropped the idea as it was worried the date of marching may “conflict with the legislation period of Article 23.”
Hong Kong last month passed new security legislation under Article 23 of the Basic Law, which is known locally as Article 23. Chief Executive John Lee launched the legislative process for a new security law in late January, and less than two months later, Hong Kong’s opposition-free legislature unanimously voted through the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance.
A spokesperson from the HKFLU told HKFP in Cantonese on Monday that apart from the forum, “nothing has been confirmed yet” to mark Labour Day.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, holding protest marches on or ahead of Labour Day used to be a tradition for Hong Kong’s unions from across the political spectrum.
In 2019, HKFLU hosted its last Labour Day march in recent years. In a Chinese-language statement, the group said 1,500 workers joined the march, a record high number that reflected workers’ dissatisfaction with the city’s labour policies.
After Hong Kong lifted the last of its Covid-19 restrictions last March, the union applied for a permit to hold a Labour Day march. However, it called off the march on April 17 last year, saying that the police were yet to issue approval for the demonstration.
The decision came two days after China’s top official for Hong Kong affairs Xia Baolong, who was visiting the city, said that protest marches were “not the only way” for the public to air their views.
‘From stability to prosperity’
The city’s largest labour union, Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (HKFTU), also announced that it would not host a Labour Day march this year.
Kingsley Wong, chairman of HKFTU, told HK01 that Hong Kong was moving “from stability to prosperity,” and therefore needed to change how the public expressed their opinions. He added that the union would celebrate Labour Day “in a brand new format.”
The pro-democracy party the League of Social Democrats announced that it would petition in front of government headquarters to address the needs and interests of working class people, like it had the previous.
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