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SCED speaks to media on wage default of ATV
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     Following is the transcript of remarks made by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, at a media session on the wage default of ATV after attending the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort Third Hotel Ground Breaking Ceremony today (January 5):

Reporter: (About ATV staff not being paid.)

Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development: I am very concerned about the situation of the staff not being paid. Staff not being paid is a serious matter and I believe it is the responsibility of the employer to ensure that the staff are fairly compensated by payment of salary. Therefore, this situation is not satisfactory. We need to look at this from two different levels. One level is employer/employee relationship. They are not being paid, and I've already said that I think this is not satisfactory at all, and it has to be dealt with in accordance with the employment law and my colleagues in the Labour Department have been handling this situation.

     The other angle or the other level is whether they (ATV) have breached the terms of the Broadcasting Ordinance as well as the licensing conditions. This is a matter for the Communications Authority to decide and they have many different sanctions according to the degree of the violation, including warning, suspension of licence, and in a more serious case, having gone through the procedures, they can make a recommendation to the Chief Executive in Council to have the licence revoked. This is a very serious matter. Therefore the Broadcasting Ordinance has already given the Communications Authority a whole spectrum of different sanctions, measures that could be taken depending on the circumstances. I have every confidence that the Communications Authority will, according to the situation, come up with the appropriate measure.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)

Ends/Monday, January 5, 2015
Issued at HKT 18:52

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