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Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, on the container terminal labour dispute today (April 3):
Secretary for Labour and Welfare: I have been very concerned about the labour dispute at the container terminal and have been following development closely from day one. In fact I have been steering the Labour Department in frontline negotiation, particularly in the frontline shuttling between various parties. The process has not been easy because each party has various strong views and position. But we continue to do our best. And in this afternoon, in fact, I have taken an initiative of inviting the top management of Hutchison Port Holdings which actually owns the Hutchison terminal to come to my office to have a very frank discussion for two hours. I must say it was a very frank exchange, very constructive indeed, because the senior management of HIT as well agreed that the differences between the contractors and the workers could be ironed out through a spirit of compromise and mutual understanding. And in fact, Hutchison Port Holdings pledged its full support in helping us to activate the dialogue between various parties with a view to resolving the dispute as quickly as possible, so I am very grateful for its support. I appeal to the contractors and the workers to approach the problem pragmatically in the spirit of compromise and mutual understanding. And also in fact the longer the dispute goes on, the livelihood of the workers will be affected and also the port's operation will be affected. This is in nobody's interest. So we want to really iron out the problem as quickly as possible. The Labour Department will set up a conciliation meeting within a day or two as soon as possible with a view to unlocking the deadlock.
Reporter: (About meeting the unions and strikers)
Secretary for Labour and Welfare: We have been in touch with all the parties concerned, shuttling diplomacy behind the scene. In fact, our Labour Department colleagues have been working flat out from day one in Kwai Chung, talking to unions, talking to workers, talking to the contractors and to the management with a view to really unlocking this deadlock. I was very glad therefore in this afternoon, as a result of my meeting with the top management of Hutchison Whampoa, we have now opened the door to negotiation. I am sure through the spirit of mutual understanding and compromise, and it is very important that we look at the issue rationally and pragmatically, I am sure that all problems will be ironed out at the end of the day.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Issued at HKT 21:36
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