HPH Trust says it will not be cowed by strike

 

SINGAPORE] Li Ka-shing's right-hand man Canning Fok made it clear yesterday that if port workers want to go on strike, there are other people willing to take their place in the hustle-town that is Hong Kong.

Following a strike by some 400 port workers - mostly crane operators and stevedores - at Kwai Tsing Container Terminals in late-March, 26 people have jumped at the chance to train with Hongkong International Terminals (HIT) as crane operators, Mr Fok revealed yesterday afternoon in Singapore.

Mr Fok chairs Hutchison Port Holdings Trust (HPH Trust), whose Hong Kong unit, HIT, runs five of the nine terminals at the affected port. Currently running at 80-90 per cent of normal operations post- strike, HIT aims to reach 100 per cent in six to eight weeks' time.

This new crane operators' training class, a direct result of the strike, is bigger than the usual class size of five to 10 people. While the port worker's average take-home pay of HK$20,000 (S$3,180) a month has been cause for some to strike, other people see it as a step up in life, Mr Fok said.