Recruitment agents have docked half of some construction workers’ wages. But the slump in the property market has also played a role in the suspension of the programme, which brought nearly 10,000 Chinese workers to the city last year, according to the union investigating the issue.
Hong Kong () – Hong Kong authorities have suspended a programme to recruit workers from mainland China after more than 120 migrants complained that they had been cheated out of their wages. The decision was welcomed by the Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union, which held a press conference last week to report on the abuses suffered by migrant workers.
Union representatives said Chinese agents who recruit construction workers defrauded and then intimidated workers. “After the press conference, we have received more information,” union vice president Chiu Kin-keung told reporters. Hong Kong Free Press“If they weren’t desperate, they wouldn’t have come to us. They are very scared because they don’t know Hong Kong’s institutions and regulations,” he continued, adding that the complaints received are just “the tip of the iceberg.”
Workers reported, for example, that they had to hand over bank cards on which their wages had been paid to recruitment agents, only to find that their wages had been halved. “Three months after taking half of their wages, the official in question asked all workers to sign a document confirming that all wages had been paid and received. Some workers refused to sign and the agent threatened to fire them,” union representatives explained during the press conference. Other workers said they had been forced to pay additional training costs or work overtime without pay. And those who had been fired were sent back to mainland China. None of the workers who suffered abuse and threats were present at the press conference, to avoid retaliation.
Since last year, Hong Kong has been trying to address its growing labour shortage by expanding the sectors where it is allowed to hire from outside the city through a programme called the Labour Importation Scheme. Since it was launched, 9,731 workers have arrived for construction sites.
Now, in response to the complaints (which authorities are investigating), the Hong Kong Development Office has rejected all 18 applications submitted to hire 1,750 more workers, even though the department itself had set a quota of 12,000 workers.
However, the union believes that the property market crisis has also played a role in the suspension of the Labour Importation Scheme: “As far as I know, given that property values are falling sharply, some architects have been asked to take unpaid leave and some workers are underemployed,” said a spokesperson for the Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union. “I wouldn’t say that labour exploitation has been the only reason for suspending the quotas.”
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