Hong Kong: The port worker strike at Hong Kong International Terminals (HIT) has entered the sixth day.
HIT was granted a temporary injunction to ban the strikers from entering the terminal, however, the strikers has chosen to continue the protest outside the terminal gate. The worker’s union has provided tents to the workers and also offered each worker a HK$1000 subsidy from the HK$650,000 “strike fund” it has raised.
Currently the strike has forced many vessels to reroute cargo to neighboring ports causing huge losses for HIT, HK$5m a day according to HIT md, Gerry Yim Lui-fai. Hong Kong Shippers’ Council has advised cargo operators to divert cargo to Shenzhen or Guangzhou while the strike continues.
Regarding the workers’ demand for a 20% pay raise, Yim said that HIT has urged contractors to raise the workers’ salary by 5% when their new agreement begins in July. But up to now, the contractors still refused to negotiate with the union and HIT can not take part in the negotiations.
"Since it started, everyone, our company and other companies, are losers," Yim said on a local radio program yesterday. [03/04/13]
