Later today, the unions will be meeting for negotiations with Everbest Technologies Ltd and Hong Kong International Terminals (HIT), the subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL) which operates the Kwai Tsing terminal.
Meanwhile, a court hearing regarding the injunction to block strikers out of Cheung Kong Centre is due to take place tomorrow. If the injunction is authorised as expected, the protesters will need to cancel its planned protest for tomorrow and shoulder any fees if they lose the legal case.
HWL accused union workers of “harassing” customers at the Harbour Grand Hong Kong hotel earlier this week.
But the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) says that this was a smear campaign by the operator to portray the strikers as trouble makers instead of coming to the table to deal with the labour dispute.
Chan Chiu-wai, organising co-ordinator, pointed out to Port Strategy: “The protest at the Harbour Grand Hong Kong hotel was one of the support actions which was initiated and organised by local citizen groups rather than the strikers themselves.”
HKCTU says it is not threatened by the tactics and will continue the dispute until they reach an agreement with employers over pay, hygiene facilities and the need for longer breaks.
Meanwhile, 60 stevedores hired by ComCheung are still protesting this morning at Terminal No 4 and 7 – they want the management services company to join the negotiation.
The troubles continue to hurt both the workers and port operations and it has the potential to do much more damage.
A lot depends on the outcome of the talks today – Hutchison told Business Week that it has received outside interest for the striking dockworkers’ jobs.