Hong Kong Dockworkers Strike! – Common Cargo
It’s the wet season in Honk Kong, however that’s not stopping dockworkers and crane operators from tenting out within the chilly. They’re putting on the Kwai Tsing Container Terminal within the Port of Honk Kong.
The Journal of Commerce experiences,“giant volumes of container site visitors are being diverted away from the world’s third-busiest container port as ships face delays of as much as 60 hours for unloading.”[1]
Simply whenever you thought we had been performed speaking about strikes at ports with the ILA contract negotiations on the East and Gulf Coast ports of the U.S. reaching decision, right here we go in Hong Kong.
Tents are sitting on picket pallets as dockworkers and crane operators demand higher working circumstances and almost a 20% pay improve.
This Hong Kong strike that started on March 30th is approaching the two-week mark and to date, no negotiations are in sight.
Hongkong Worldwide Terminals (HIT) has stated that this strike is costing them $644,000 a day. Nonetheless, they don’t negotiate with the putting staff as a result of they’re employed by subcontractors and will not be immediately employed by the port operator. Due to this, HIT says it can not negotiate with the putting staff.[2]
Based on the labor unions, HIT immediately employed over a thousand staff till it outsourced by way of subcontractors to economize within the late 1990’s.
Actually, the impression of this strike is far bigger than simply costing HIT lots of of hundreds of {dollars} a day. The Hong Kong authorities, seeing the excessive stakes and the general public concern over the scenario, stated in a press release, “the Labour Division continued to actively help all events involved to agree on the conciliation assembly preparations with a view to enabling direct dialogue to resolve the problem.”[3]
Regardless of the tense of that sentence, I believe the Honk Kong authorities is saying they’re persevering with to work towards getting all events to a negotiating desk and resolving the problem.
Enormous public assist is being proven to the dockworkers, who wrestle to feed their households as they strike. Meals and cash has been donated to maintain them going. Donations have reached the sum of $450,900 or 3.5 million Hong Kong {dollars}, organizers say based on the Wall Avenue Journal.
Resentment is rising in Honk Kong over the town’s widening wealth hole. Sound acquainted? Occupy Motion… 99% versus 1%…
“Whereas revenue grew 60% among the many metropolis’s high 10% of earners from 2001 to 2010, it dropped by 20% amongst these within the backside 10%, based on figures launched by the nonprofit Higher Hong Kong Basis,” experiences the Wall Avenue Journal. [4]
Li Ka-shing is the richest man in Hong Kong.
Sure, I do discover it fascinating {that a} man, whose web value—based on Forbes—is $31 billion, has a reputation that’s strikingly just like ka-ching.
Mr. Li owns Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., which holds a 70% share of port-handling volumes in Hong Kong.
The Wall Avenue Journal describes the next scene in Honk Kong of the folks vilifying Mr. Li, regardless of his beneficiant giving of greater than $1.66 billion primarily to training and health-care initiatives in Hong Kong and mainland China:
Over the weekend, hundreds of protesters marched by way of downtown Hong Kong, carrying images of Mr. Li defaced with satan’s horns and the Chinese language character for “shameless” written throughout his brow. Organizers estimated that 4,000 demonstrators turned out Sunday, whereas police put the determine at 2,800 at its peak. [5]
This case could not see decision shortly. As time continues, a really actual impression could possibly be felt by shippers who import from China.
Common Cargo Administration continues to import and export from and to China with little or no impression. Within the meantime, we are going to regulate the scenario and maintain you knowledgeable.
We expect you will need to be aware that by way of the varied cultures and huge geographic places of the world, inequities fire up for folks emotions in widespread; folks across the globe share extra likenesses than variations.
Share your emotions and ideas on the Hong Kong strike within the feedback part under.
