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A scholar urged the management to take its social responsibilities as the Hong Kong dockworkers' walkout dragging into the fifth week.
"Workers are striking for their fundamental rights," said Qiu Linchuan, professor in communication and journalism at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. "Both the Hutchinson Whampoa and its sub contractors have to take their social responsibilities as modern-day enterprises."
The modern-day company should be a public organization which is externally responsible and internally democratic, he said. "Employers are expected to keep the management structure relatively transparent and exploitation on workers should not be the means to realize cost reduction," he added.
On May 1 Labor Day, the strikers Marchers walked from Victoria Park to tycoon Li Ka-shing's Cheung Kong Center in Central, and made their intermediate stop at the government headquarters in Admiralty. Among them were people from different walks of life and university students in support of the strike.
Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, the organizer of the march said that about 5,000 people from more than 90 trade unions and organizations has joined, while the police said there were approximately 3,700 people took part. The strikers demanded better wages and working conditions.
The wages and working conditions of dockers at Hong Kong International Terminals are strikingly unfair and even violating to the government's labor and welfare policies, according to Qiu. He said that the dockers' wages have been devaluated greatly due to the average annual inflation rate of 4%-5% of Hong Kong.
Some dockers working at elevated heights are forced to use a flying toilet, the use of plastic bags for defecation, due to the strict working hours. "It's hard to imagine that working in logistics, one of the four pillar industries of Hong Kong, an international city, dockers have to endure similar toileting mode as in Nairobi's slums," he said.
Compared with Chinese mainland, Qiu said, severe polarization has been observed in the industrial relations in Hong Kong.
He said that HIT has been in a relatively monopolized status in the region for years, so that the capital lacks motives to ameliorate workers' remuneration. "Hong Kong has to take introspection into its negligence on workers' welfare who are on the bottom rung of the ladder," He said.
"The striking dockers have no intention to make troubles to Hong Kong's economy," Qui said. "They are struggling for a decent life and I'm quite optimistic on the realization of their demand of a pay increase for more than 10% and better working conditions in this strike."
