Social News
Written by: Huang Yongyu
2021-02-03 08:00
Last update date: 2021-02-03 08:00
The minimum wage has been implemented in 2011 and is reviewed every two years. The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Law Chi-kwong, announced yesterday (2nd) that after taking into account all opinions and considering the economic environment, he decided to “freeze wages” for the minimum wage this year, which means the next two years. The annual salary will also be maintained at 37.5 yuan, and the salary increase can be expected as soon as May 2023.
Sister Ling, 62, works as a security guard in a stand-alone building in Sham Shui Po. She has experienced four waves of epidemics since last year. She admitted that her work was once a "kick" and she needed to take care of cleaning tasks such as disinfection and mopping.
She made 7,800 yuan a month and lamented that the labor force could not keep up with the price increase. Yesterday, she heard the news of the salary freeze from the live news broadcast. She said bluntly, "Not happy", but thought that the current market conditions were bad and she lamented "There is no way!"
Sister Ling, 62, has been a security guard in a single building in Sham Shui Po for 12 years.
(Photo by Luo Junhao)
About 21,000 people receive the minimum wage
According to the Census and Statistics Department, in the previous year’s income and working hours survey, 21,200 people in Hong Kong received minimum wages, mainly for cleaning and security jobs.
Sister Ling entered the business in her 12th year. Before she was a security guard, she worked in a restaurant. She had to kick the floor and everything. She suffered a lot of strain. She quit to take care of her children. When her son entered middle school, she found a job to help with the family.
Born in Hong Kong, everything is expensive. She said that she did not dare to retire at the grassroots level. "It takes hundreds of mosquitoes to see an illness. It takes 300 to 400 mosquitoes to strip a tooth."
"Sheng Dou, don't you freeze you?"
She remembered that when she first entered the
industry,
she only got a monthly salary of more than 5,000 yuan. Since 2011, the minimum wage has been implemented, with an hourly salary of 28 yuan. It was only raised to 37.5 yuan in 2019.
I do 8 hours a day and only take 1 day off a week. "Everyone in the house and business is wrong for 8 hours. I see you for a while when you eat, and you will leave after you eat!" But the monthly salary is only 7,800 yuan. In Hong Kong, everything is expensive. Sister Ling has made a lot of expenditures, lamenting that people cannot keep up with Tongyi.
For more than a year, under the impact of the epidemic, the workload of front-line security has increased greatly. The mopping of the floor with bleach and the disinfection of hand controls have been more dense. Sister Ling feels hard for the cleaners colleagues. It’s not high, there is a lot of rubbish, and the road is bumpy."
Have you ever thought that the minimum wage will be frozen this year?
She smiled bitterly: "Even civil servants are freezing their salaries. How about we promote to the citizens, don't we freeze you?"
Lin Zhensheng, chairman of the AFL, also pointed out that it is not ideal to freeze salaries on the grounds of the epidemic.
(Photo by Luo Junhao)
The trade union feels that there is a
reward and
there is a
reward. Lin Zhensheng, chairman of the AFL, also pointed out that it is unsatisfactory to freeze wages on the grounds of the epidemic. The original intention of the minimum wage is to protect the grassroots. If inflation continues, the minimum wage will not be adjusted. "Salary cuts" increase the burden of basic living.
Regarding the government's final decision, he bluntly stated that it will not be until 2023 before the grassroots have the opportunity to adjust wages. In a disguised form, "there is no labor increase in four years." Even if the Hong Kong economy recovers next year, workers will not be able to share the economic results.
The economic downturn has greatly increased the number of people working in the security industry. Au Jianhua, the vice chairman of the Hong Kong Building Management Employees Union, said that the majority of people in the industry are over 55 years old and many security guards are the backbone of the family’s economy. "In fact, the epidemic has increased the living expenses of everyone. Even if you buy masks and gloves, even if the government subsidizes them, you can make up for the fact that you don’t have to pay for the whole family... Under the epidemic, there are too many jobs, and the cleaning itself is not done by security. If you pay, you should pay."
Ou Jianhua, the vice chairman of the Hong Kong Building Management Employees Union, believes that there should be gains if you pay.
(Photo by Luo Junhao)
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