The industrial action at Kwai Chung container port has been going on for nearly two weeks with no sign of resolution. A terminal operation contractor has said the strike came out of the blue and he suspects it was launched with ulterior motives.

Normally workers' demand for a pay raise can be settled with a consensus reached through dialogue. And this time several labor groups, including the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU), have been talking to the employer for days. However, the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (CTU) cut in without notice and told some workers to go on strike to force the employer into submission.

It may seem the CTU is trying to protect workers' interest, but the fact is the continuing strike is hurting Hong Kong's shipping industry and will victimize all parties concerned except the CTU itself, which must be condemned for seeking to profit from the industrial action at the dockhands' expense.

The CTU repeatedly claimed that the dock workers' pay has not increased in the past 10 years and is now lower than in 1997, while sometimes they had to work 24 hours straight. According to the contractor, however, the workers have received a cumulative pay raise of 14 percent so far. As for working 24 hours straight, it was the workers' request so that they could take a full day off afterwards and save some commuting expenses. Obviously the CTU has ulterior motives for inciting the strike and chose to tell lies to win sympathy.

The industrial action is also costing Hong Kong's shipping industry dearly. The competitiveness of Hong Kong's ports has been significantly compromised by the strike, with the employees' career prospects bound to shrink as a result, leaving them the biggest loser in the industrial action, all thanks to the CTU and its fellow radical groups acting as cheerleaders.

This is an excerpted translation of a Wen Wei Po editorial published on April 9.

(HK Edition 04/10/2013 page9)