The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Minimum Wage | Oxfam approves a freeze on wages for basic living, and it is difficult to urge the government to review the level six months later

2021-02-03T07:10:46.996Z


The government has implemented it in 2011 and conducts a review every two years. The government announced that it accepted the recommendation of the Minimum Wage Committee to maintain the minimum wage level at $37.5 per hour. All grassroots employees in Hong Kong will be


District 18 News

Written by: District Licheng

2021-02-03 14:55

The last update date: 2021-02-03 14:56

Since 2011, the government has conducted a review every two years. The government announced that it accepted the minimum wage committee’s recommendation to maintain the minimum wage level at $37.5 per hour. The wages of all grassroots employees in Hong Kong will be frozen.

Oxfam criticizes that if the minimum wage level continues to freeze, hundreds of thousands of grassroots workers will be unable to cope with even the most basic living needs, and will face labor reductions in disguise in the next two years. Therefore, they urge the government to commit to implementation. Review the relevant amount in the latter half of the year.

In addition, some trade unions also held a sit-in on the minimum wage issue today to express their dissatisfaction.

According to Oxfam’s front-line observations, if a minimum wage worker works 26 days a month and works 8 hours a day, he can only earn RMB 7,800.

(Profile picture)

The government announced a few days ago that in response to the deep recession of Hong Kong’s economy and the high unemployment rate, it will freeze the minimum wage at $37.5 per hour for the next two years.

Oxfam expressed opposition to this, pointing out that the grassroots level has raised prices. Among them, the increase in food (excluding dining out) has soared by 12.3%. It believes that the government should protect the basic rights of grassroots workers.

Outsourced cleaners who take the risk of infection should get reasonable returns

Oxfam’s acting director of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan projects, Huang Shuohong, said that the monthly rent for a subdivided house without partitions has reached RMB 4,500. Coupled with rising prices, the grassroots will have to add additional fixed expenses such as anti-epidemic supplies.

The government now freezes the minimum wage, which will make the lives of grassroots workers worse.

She also pointed out that most of the grassroots workers currently receiving minimum wages or close to the minimum wage are government outsourced cleaners. Faced with the epidemic, cleaners risk infection and work silently on the front line, and they deserve a reasonable return.

According to the association’s front-line observations, if a minimum-wage worker works 26 days a month and 8 hours a day, he can only earn $7,800. Some grassroots citizens have reported that the procedures for applying for CSSA are extremely complicated. Those who need to provide item-by-item income certificates are described as "passing five hurdles and killing six generals." They have to bear the labeling effect and be discriminated against by the outside world.

Therefore, Oxfam strongly urges the government to commit to review the relevant amount within half a year after the freezing of the minimum wage level (that is, on or before November 1st). The calculation method is to consider the important principle of "one support, one" and is higher than the average CSSA It also means that the government, as the largest employer, should take the heavy responsibility to pay a higher wage level to employees currently receiving the minimum wage, including contract outsourced workers, so that their wages can reach the level of living wages in the long run. .

In addition, regarding the freezing of the minimum wage at 37.5 yuan, the security union and the environmental cleaning union stated that they will petition and conduct a 24-hour sit-in at the government headquarters today to express their dissatisfaction.

Freeze minimum wage for the first time

Minimum Wage|The AFL Expressed Disappointment over the Freeze of the Minimum Wage, the business community agrees that the economic environment is poor

Minimum wage|Government report estimates that if the zero economic growth is raised to 44 yuan, 50,000 people will be unemployed

01Community

minimum wage

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2021-02-03

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.