18 District News
Written by: District Licheng
2021-07-06 16:40
Last update date: 2021-07-06 16:40
The Hong Kong Association of Community Organizations stated that Hong Kong has experienced at least four waves of epidemics before and after, and the suspension of work has had a great impact on the grassroots citizens.
According to the survey report of the Association, in the past year or so, many grassroots citizens have faced underemployment, unpaid leave, and even unemployment, and their lives have been on the verge of the CSSA level under the various compulsory measures of the government over the past year or so.
Today (6th), the Social Association and a group of grassroots workers went to the Legislative Council's Complaints Department to meet with legislators, asking the government to vigorously reform the WFA, assist and compensate the affected employees, set up a fund for unemployed non-underemployment, improve loan conditions, etc., and support the grassroots labor.
The Social Association and the United Nations went to the Complaints Department of the Legislative Council to meet with MPs Yao Sirong, Pan Shaoping, Lu Songxiong, Zheng Yongshun, and Chen Zhenying. They demanded that the government be vigorously reformed as soon as possible to assist and compensate the affected employees.
(Photo provided by the Social Association)
Half of the respondents said their employers did not pay
According to the Social Association, although the unemployment rate in Hong Kong has dropped to 6.4%, it is still twice as high as before the epidemic. Nearly 400,000 workers are unemployed and underemployed.
When hands are stopped, the affected citizens can only save money and even borrow money to get by.
According to the "Survey Report on Employment of Grassroots Workers and Government Support under the Epidemic" released in May 2021, nearly half of the interviewees said that some household members were unable to work normally due to government compulsory measures, and nearly 40 adults said that labor was reduced, close to 90%. They were once required to take unpaid leave or underemployment, and nearly half of them had no pay. Nearly 80% of them took unpaid leave or underemployment for more than one month, and even more than 40% lasted three months or more.
Affected by the fourth wave of the epidemic, the working hours of workers have also been greatly reduced. From December 2020, only 42% of the respondents indicated that their working hours were less than 144 hours, which increased to 51.4% in February 2021, and many people lost their applications. Eligibility for working family allowance means "the poorer the more there will be no subsidy."
Although the government stated that starting from June this year, the working hours limit will be relaxed from the minimum 144 hours to 72 hours, but there is no retrospective period. However, the Social Association believes that the government has failed to provide support during the time when working hours are most severely hit, ignoring the start of labor. The problem of inadequacy has prevented many grassroots households from benefiting from the allowance.
The Social Association and the United Nations went to the Complaints Department of the Legislative Council to meet with MPs Yao Sirong, Pan Shaoping, Lu Songxiong, Zheng Yongshun, and Chen Zhenying. They demanded that the government be vigorously reformed as soon as possible to assist and compensate the affected employees.
(Photo provided by the Social Association)
80% of respondents said they dare not apply for government loan programs
The survey report also pointed out that 80% or more of the respondents were afraid to apply for the government's "100% guaranteed personal preferential loan program". Among them, 73.5% said they were worried about their inability to repay, 33.5% said they did not want to take a loan, and 24.5% said Refers to being not a permanent resident and ineligible for borrowing. More than 20% of the interviewees said they had borrowed money to survive earlier, which shows that the loan program cannot alleviate the unemployment of grassroots citizens in the past year.
The Social Association believes that the government has no compensation for workers affected by the epidemic, and it refuses to set up unemployment assistance. It describes the original WFA measures as only a small temporary relaxation, which does not provide much help to the affected workers, so they can borrow money. Solving the unemployment problem has also made the lives of grassroots workers miserable.
Therefore, the Social Association urges the government to directly provide subsidies and assistance to employees through the anti-epidemic fund; the government should also promote work transformation and provide training courses that can meet the needs of the industry.
In addition, the Social Association also urges the authorities to increase employment positions, such as creating internships and temporary positions in various industries, encouraging the development of emerging industries, promoting community market operations, and developing night economy.
The organization also hopes that the government will add online channels to apply for allowances and relax the WFA working hours restrictions, so that workers can be traced back to the fourth wave of the epidemic and benefit more people.
As the government's loan program failed to meet the needs of the public, the Social Association also urged the government to reconsider setting up unemployment and underemployment assistance funds.
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