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Following is a question by the Hon Yiu Si-wing and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (July 10):
Question:
It was reported two months ago that a number of employees working at the Hong Kong International Airport (the airport) had been found sleeping on the seats near the boarding gates with their shoes and socks off thereby emitting odors. The scene caused a lot of travellers to look askance at them. After the report was published in the press, my Member's Office received telephone calls from people who claimed to be working at the airport complaining about the plight of the manual workers of the service contractors (contractors) of the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK), which included excessively long working hours, insufficient rest rooms and canteen facilities as well as the lack of shower facilities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
(a) the current total number of manual workers working at the airport and, among them, the respective numbers of those directly employed by AAHK and by the contractorsˇFˇ@
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(b) the rest facilities available at the airport at present for use by manual workers; whether AAHK has assessed if such facilities are adequate; whether the contractors' employees are permitted to use such facilities;
(c) whether AAHK has any plans to increase the rest facilities for staff; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(d) the measures AAHK has taken to prevent the recurrence of the aforesaid incident in order to avoid damaging the image of Hong Kong?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the various parts of the question raised by the Hon Yiu Si-wing is as follows:
(a) According to the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK)'s manpower statistics of 2010, there are around 65 000 people working on the airport island. They are respectively employed by the AAHK, airport's business partners (e.g. airlines), service franchisees (e.g. aviation logistics service providers) and service contractors (e.g. cleansing service contractors). Among these 65 000 staff, about 12 000 are manual or lower-skilled workers. Most of them are employed by airport's business partners, service franchisees and service contractors; and 14 workers are directly hired by the AAHK.
(b) At the Hong Kong International Airport Terminals 1 and 2, and the SkyPier, rest rooms, changing rooms and other facilities are provided for manual workers. Furthermore, rest rooms, changing rooms and canteens are also provided in the airfield on the apron.
In the Terminal Building, there are two staff canteens, one is located near Gate 60 at West Hall of the Arrivals Level, and the other in the baggage handling restricted area (near Gate 15 at East Hall of the Terminal Building). All employees who work in the airport can use these two canteens.
(c) and (d) The AAHK attaches great importance to the welfare and needs of the staff working on the airport island. The AAHK has all along maintained communication with airport's business partners, service franchisees, outsourced service providers and representatives of staff unions on the provision of staff facilities, and make improvements as necessary. For example, when drawing up new service contracts in the future, the AAHK plans to include in the scope of contract evaluation the welfare package and basic rest facilities to be provided by contractors for their staff. Meanwhile, the AAHK is planning to provide additional staff canteen, convenience store and vending machine in the Terminal Building for all airport staff.
The AAHK imposes strict requirements for the dress code and physical appearance of staff providing service in the Terminal Building. All staff, while at work, must wear tidy uniform. The AAHK will step up inspections and checks on staff who are on-duty, and conduct real-time monitoring at the Integrated Airport Centre, to ensure that staff of service franchisees and outsourced service contractors comply with the relevant requirements.
Ends/Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Issued at HKT 12:00
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