Tung Chung Construction Site: Workers Stage Protest Over Unpaid Wages
Nearly 100 workers at a public housing construction site in Tung Chung held up a banner reading “Sweating, no pay” at 9am today (8 November) to chase their wages. Hong Kong’s Construction Industry General Union said it had received calls for help from workers. There are 80 people working in mud pits, plumbing, formwork, various workers, etc., worth 20 million yuan. A second contractor paid $3 million alone due to a delay in salary, Leung Zi-ying, a member of the LegCo trade union, went to the site to mediate and ask the housing department and the contractor to resolve the incident as soon as possible.
In the afternoon the General Union published another post saying the situation had not improved significantly, describing the site in question as belonging to the Department of Housing. Some workers were seen at the spot who were agitated and planning to move forward with banners. Some said they had been “standing all day” and had to be mediated by police, adding that the situation could be further escalated as the main contractor’s attitude had been negative.
The rights team of the Federation of Trade Unions immediately sent staff to the site to support the workers, pay close attention to the development of the situation and called on all workers on the site to immediately contact the Federation of Trade Unions in case of wage arrears. The Federation of Trade Unions hopes that “what you sweat brings you food” and asks the entrepreneur to pay many months’ wages arrears as soon as possible.
Mr. Qiu, a mud pit worker, said he began delaying food supplies in September, and had no choice but to protest: “We are all breadwinners. We are waiting for wages to pay rent and support our families, which has a big impact. The end result is that there is no explanation. We couldn’t get any money, so we had no choice but to leave and start working elsewhere.”
After checking the information, Jing Jin Construction Co., Ltd. is the main contractor of the public housing site in Tung Chung 100 Area. The project is expected to have 5,200 units.