1 Desperate construction workers plan to stage rally
Beatrice Siu , The Standard, 22 December 2008

Construction workers will begin the new year with a rally to push the government to open up job opportunities.

A survey of 499 workers from December 11 to 19 found one fifth have been jobless for a month.

The survey, commissioned by the Construction Site Workers General Union and Bar Bending Industry Workers Solidarity Union, also showed 49 percent worked fewer than 23 days a month.

Vice chairman of the general union Shek Lam-shang said the government should push forward the pre-phase program of infrastructure projects and encourage local factories to produce more pre-cast units. Shek also urged the Housing Authority to push forward more public estate projects.

"The infrastructure projects, schedule to start in 2010, cannot help workers in the short term," Shek said. "Local workers can share the benefits if these projects use pre-cast units manufactured in Hong Kong."

Shek said the pre-phase works for part of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge could be pushed forward so that more workers can be employed.

Other projects include replacing the city's aging water mains and creating more green projects.

An office bearer of the bar bending union Cheng Kwun-ki complained they were suffering late payment as subcontractors face cash flow problems amid the economic meltdown.

Cheng said it is quite common for subcontractors to delay paying workers, with some taking up to six months.

Cheng believes there will be more pay delays and more workers would be jobless after the Lunar New Year.

He urged the government to monitor the working hours and pay arrangements of subcontractors to protect construction workers, adding that these workers should be paid daily.

The construction workers will march for more jobs at Chater Garden on January 4.

 

2 Building workers 'underemployed'
Agnes Lam, SCMP 22 December 2008

Half of the construction workers in Hong Kong are underemployed, a survey by two unions has found.

Forty-nine per cent said they worked for less than 23 days last month. Some 21.6 per cent of the underemployed workers said they worked for 16 to 23 days in November, while 27.4 per cent said they worked for less than 15 days.

Of these, some only managed to find work for one to five days.

Nineteen per cent of the respondents said they had been unemployed for more than a month.

A total of 499 construction workers were interviewed for the study by the Construction Site Workers General Union and the Bar Bending Solidarity Union earlier this month.

Deputy organising secretary of the Construction Site Workers General Union Shek Lam-sang said only 32 per cent said they could find work for more than 23 days a month.

"The government keeps saying it will introduce more large-scale infrastructure protects, but we still have not seen any moves made.

"We think the government should also build more public housing flats and introduce more improvement projects at public housing estates to create more jobs."

Mr Shek, who is a window fitter, said he had only managed to find work for about three months this year, making about HK$50,000.

The union said the administration should not train young workers to join the trade before it had a sustainable development plan for newcomers.

"Even if the government introduces all infrastructure projects now, there is no way for all construction workers to find work, let alone newcomers. Also, young workers need to work to build up experience. How can they do that when there is no work for them after they have completed training programmes at school?" Mr Shek said.

On January 4, unions will stage a protest and march to the Central Government Offices, demanding the government introduce more measures to help construction workers.