New round of talks loom large as HK dockers' protest continues

The fourth round of negotiation between the Union of Kong Kong Dockers and the contractor is set to begin Thursday afternoon in a bid to end the strike that is in its 34th day, local media reported.

Union spokesman Stanley Ho Wai-hong said on Monday that they were willing to go back to the negotiating table with Everbest Port Services. The contractor employs 300 of the 450 workers who walked off the job on March 28.

Everbest is one of the contractors of port operator HongKong International Terminals Ltd (HIT), controlled by billionaire Li Ka-shing. Another contractor, Global Stevedoring Services, which employs 150 striking workers, has announced its closure from June 30 after failing to meet the pay rise amid the month-long protest.

Striking workers complain that their real wages have fallen in the past 17 years, while their working conditions deteriorated. Many work 24-hour shifts without toilet or lunch breaks, said Lee Chuek-yan, the strike organizer.

The previous three talks between the contractors and workers failed, as the union is seeking a pay hike of about 20 percent. The subcontractors are offering raises of just 5 to 7 percent. Ho said Monday there was still room for negotiation but any offer must be a "double-digit figure."

We are prepared to negotiate on our demands but we hope the employers will show sincerity,'' Ho said. We also hope HIT will tell us about the future of the crane operators.''

The dockworkers have been sleeping in tents outside the Cheng Kong center owned by Li, the billionaire, putting up signs depicting him as a devil and accusing his company of exploiting workers.

They have previously staged massive street rallies and protested outside the government headquarters and Li's Shouson Hill residence, after moving the strike from Kwai Tsing Container Terminal to the Central, the city's financial center. Some of the workers' children carried banners asking Li to help their father to resolve the issue.

Last Sunday's street rally saw violent clashes between police and striking workers, as protesters blocked the road and tried to break police blockades to the Government House. Police said they would gather evidence to see whether there was any legal liability regarding workers' surprising march to the government headquarters, local media South China Morning Post reported.

The workers' strike has drawn support from many groups. Ten demonstrators on Sunday urged tourists not to check in to a North point hotel owned by Li. "By checking in, you are saying that this rich guy in Asia has the right to exploit workers," Sanjay Garla, a tourist from the U.S. who joined the demonstration, told local media South China Morning Post.

Around 20 student supporters managed to enter the building of Cheung Kong Center and staged a protest on the seventh floor last Wednesday, sitting on the floor and unfurling red banners printed with words "Rich, Unkind" in Chinese, local newspaper Standard said. Some of the students are members of the Hong Kong Federation of Students and activist group Left Wing 21.

HIT said in early April that the strike was costing it HK$4 million in daily losses. The company has put up ads in newspapers accusing strike organizer Lee Cheuk-yan and the trade unions of using tactics to escalate the industrial actions rather than engaging in the negotiation.

Hong Kong local media MingPao said in its commentary that the demand of the workers for a pay rise of 23 percent seems exorbitant and make it difficult for them to win the public support. It also said that the continuation of the strike will do no good to the workers, the contractors, the port operator, and Hong Kong as a whole.

The Financial Times said that the strike highlighted the growing income divide and social inequality.