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Written by: Commentary Editing Room
2020-11-07 06:00
Last update date: 2020-11-07 06:00
The Labor Advisory Committee met again on Thursday (5th) to discuss a public holiday. There was no consensus on the government plan between labor and management.
The labor side criticized the Commissioner for Labor, Mr. Chen Ka-shing, for not fulfilling his duties and leaning toward the management.
If this verdict is true, it would reflect that the prescriptions have been negative for the "wage earners" who have been expecting for many years, failing to appreciate the sentiments of the people and dispel social grievances.
Workers committee member Deng Jiabiao met with reporters after the meeting and criticized the government's plan for too long. He also accused the Commissioner of Labour for failing to achieve a consensus, with an attitude of "arrogant" and accommodating employers.
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Can't accept the ten-year pace
The government intends to add one day of labor holidays every two years during the Buddha's Birthday, Christmas and Easter from 2022, until 2030, when the uniform labor and bank holidays are completed.
"Hong Kong 01" has long criticized the limited additional labor costs of "adding holidays", and the management excuses that the economic downturn is unreasonable.
Later, under pressure from all walks of life, the employers did soften their voices. For example, they suggested to mobilize vacations, allow the purchase of vacations, or allow employers to arrange labor flexibly in addition to vacations, instead of strong opposition to increasing vacations.
However, the ten-year implementation period recommended by the government and management is obviously too long and absurd.
In recent rounds of discussions, the focus of public opinion has been on the confrontation between labor and management, and the role of the Labour Department is rarely touched.
The Commissioner for Labour is the ex-officio chairman of the Labour and Employment Association. He is mainly responsible for listening to the opinions of members. However, the reform proposal is put forward by the government. As a government representative, the Commissioner, generally speaking, should not deviate from the government's plan.
When the society generally supports the increase of labor holidays and there is sufficient justification, the Commissioner should naturally report private opinions to the management more actively, and even represent a group of workers to the government's more aggressive plan to shorten the time for full implementation.
The management committee member Guo Zhenhua pointed out that the management will not completely oppose it, but emphasizes that the society as a whole bears a lot.
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The Labour Department must be proactive
It is a pity that the prescription has always adopted a neutral and non-interventional attitude in this process. He could not "reach a consensus" in replying to the meeting from the sidelines. It is irrelevant to say that he would report to the chief executive before deciding on the next step. People disappointed.
To make matters worse, the labor representative accused the director of arrogance with the management. Leung Chiu-ting quoted the director as saying that "employers agree for ten years, and employees should accept it." Tang Jiabiao is also dissatisfied with the director's "arrogant" attitude and failed to conscientiously "make a consensus." ".
Although there is only one word difference between the director's claim that "achievement" and the "facilitation" expected by the laborers, there is a difference in the meaning of the word.
Labour representatives have no intention of accepting government proposals in their entirety. In addition, the LAB election is imminent. Labour candidates have to win the support of other workers. It is hard to imagine that their position will favor the management.
We once hoped that the government could take the lead while labor and management continued to see, and submit a plan to speed up the implementation of a uniform holiday to the Legislative Council for deliberation, so that this benefit to the people can be implemented as soon as possible.
Although this means that the government did not draft the bill on its own according to the results of the meeting, it can be called a breach of the consensus of the LAB, but in the final analysis the responsibility lies with the management, not the government, and the public will understand this.
The Labour Department replied that members of the LAB failed to reach a consensus at the meeting on how to gradually increase the number of statutory holidays under the Employment Ordinance.
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On the contrary, if the government and the management remain the same, the discussions of the LAB will probably end in failure, and the government may not reluctantly put the plan to the Legislative Council when the negotiation breaks down. By then, a uniform holiday will be indefinitely, and a group of grassroots workers will recognize it again. It is the incompetence of the government and the tyrannical management of the management, and relations with each other can only deteriorate further.
After all, if the simple task of persuading the employers to implement holiday uniformity as early as possible cannot be accomplished, what else can the government do to fight for labor rights?
Of course, the best result is to avoid the situation of reluctantly breaking through the barriers and negotiating difficult labor. Both will always weaken the recognition of the government and the LAB and further deteriorate labor relations.
The Labour Department and the relevant policy bureaus should take the initiative to shorten the timetable for implementing the 17-day labour holiday, persuade the management representatives of the LAB and other business circles to support them, and then discuss ways to facilitate implementation such as flexible holidays. Help facilitate a way for both parties to reach an agreement.
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Labour Protection Labour Department Labour Legislation Labour Holiday Labour Sector