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 Posted: Sun 8:14, 18 Aug 2013 Post subject: Hong Kong dockworkers refuse to back down as strik |
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Hong Kong dockworkers refuse to back down as strike threatens shipments at busy port,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]
HONG KONG - Striking Hong Kong dockworkers refused to back down Wednesday in a weeklong pay dispute that is slowing cargo shipments at the world's third busiest port,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych].
Several hundred dockworkers and supporters camped out on the road in front of a container terminal,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]. The workers are demanding a 20 per cent pay raise to make up for pay cuts in past years but subcontractors supplying labour to port operators are only offering 5 per cent,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych].
Hutchison International Terminals, controlled by Asia's richest person,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Li Ka-shing,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], operates the terminal where the workers are striking. Officials say the action is costing the company 5 million Hong Kong dollars ($644,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych],000) a day.
The company has distanced itself from the dispute,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], saying that the stevedores are not Hutchison employees. It said terminal operations are continuing but truck traffic in the area where the strikers are camped has slowed down.
The workers want Hutchison to negotiate directly with their union about pay. They're also demanding resolution of some health and safety problems, such as lack of bathroom breaks.
Hong Kong is the world's third busiest port by container volume, behind the mainland Chinese cities of Shanghai and Shenzhen,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], according to World Shipping Council data.
"There are some disruptions,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], particularly for the importers,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]," which are seeing some shipments of perishable goods like fruit rot because they're sitting on the dock longer,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], said Willy Lin, chairman of the Hong Kong Shippers' Council. "On the export side it's slower to get the containers out of the terminals."
Lin said he has heard that truck drivers are one to three hours late picking up and dropping off shipments because of the strike,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], but "so far we haven't seen major disruptions."
The Shippers' Council,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], which represents importers,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], exporters and manufacturers,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], has advised its members to arrange backup plans in case the strike drags on,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], including having shipments move through other ports in China,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], such as nearby Shenzhen.
Some shipping companies are already taking precautions. Japan's Mitsui OSK Lines reported several delays and diverted two ships away from Hong Kong because of the strike. The company said a Europe-bound ship would skip the city and instead stop in Vietnam,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], where Hong Kong cargo would be transferred to another ship to get to its final destination.
The dispute intensified after a magazine report that said a Hutchison executive,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Gerry Yim,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], was a director of a labour subcontractor involved in the dispute. Yim told reporters that the article was "very misleading and inaccurate."
Lee Cheuk-yan,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], a legislator and union leader,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], said the dockworkers were angry about the subcontractors.
"When there are layers of companies exploiting the workers,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], workers get very little,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]," Lee said at the strikers' camp,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], where workers have set up tents and temporary shelters.
Hong Kong is a major transfer point for goods coming in and out of mainland China. It was the world's busiest port for years,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], handling shipments of jeans,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], shoes and electronics manufactured in southern China's Pearl River Delta for export to consumers in the West. But it has been overtaken by Shanghai and Shenzhen in recent years.
Lin said Hong Kong's port still holds an edge over its rivals in mainland China because it's faster and more efficient. Hong Kong can turn around a container in 18-22 hours while Shenzhen needs 24,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], he said.
Lin said other regional rivals around Asia such as Singapore,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Busan in South Korea and Kaohsiung in Taiwan "all want a slice of this pie" and the dispute will hurt Hong Kong's image as a dependable port if it drags on.
Hutchison operates 12 berths at four of Hong Kong's nine container terminals and two others with a joint venture partner. The company is controlled by Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the flagship company of billionaire Li's sprawling Hong Kong business empire which also has retail,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], mobile phone and property businesses spanning the globe.
Striking workers like crane operator Cho Wai-kei said they earn about 700 Hong Kong dollars ($90) a shift,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], or about HK$17,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych],000 ($2,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych],200) a month.
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