Labour coalition and students to hold referendum over mass strike against Hong Kong national security law
蘋果日報 2020/06/07 13:28
An alliance of more than 20 labor unions and a pro-democracy student group will host a referendum on whether to greenlight a mass strike and school boycott over a pending national security law tailormade for Hong Kong.
The coalition, which has 23 unions representing 10,000 workers as of Saturday, covers industries ranging from the construction sector to accounting, transport and airline staff.
The group said in a press conference on Saturday that it plans to host the referendum across the city on June 14 and amass votes from at least 60,000 members in hopes to put a stop to the pending national security law. The alliance would only go forward with plans for a general strike only if 60% of the voters agree to one.
The National People’s Congress, China’s legislature, voted to enact a national security law customized for Hong Kong that would ban secession, subversion, terrorism, and foreign interference in the city. The passing of the law, which would bypass Hong Kong’s legislature, could come as early as the end of this month.
When asked if they were optimistic about getting 50,000 new members within a week, the group said it was not worried about meeting the minimum threshold.
Even if the alliance fails to gather a minimum of 60,000 members within a week, they would still host the referendum as planned and allow workers to sign up and vote at physical booths on the day.
“We won’t know how many people will actually show up until that day,” said Alex Tsui, a spokesperson for the Hong Kong Hotel Employees Union.
Tsui added that a referendum was the best way to represent public opinion and urged workers to come forward to cast their vote over the proposed national security law.
The strike, should it be given the go ahead, would be launched in phases. The first phase of industrial action would span three days, with workers taking sick or annual leaves in protest. In the second phase, workers would refuse to take part in their duties.
“This is a labor referendum. A very clear and strong sign from the labour [sector] to tell the government … that decent working men and women are against and are deeply concerned about the ‘one country, two systems’ being removed entirely by this new legislation,” said Carol Ng, chairperson of the Confederation of Trade Unions.
Separately, a student activist group also announced on Saturday that they would be hosting a referendum on the same day for students on whether they would organise a city-wide boycott of classes over the proposed law.
They would start planning for a school boycott if 60% of 10,000 voters agree to one.
The coalition, which has 23 unions representing 10,000 workers as of Saturday, covers industries ranging from the construction sector to accounting, transport and airline staff.
The group said in a press conference on Saturday that it plans to host the referendum across the city on June 14 and amass votes from at least 60,000 members in hopes to put a stop to the pending national security law. The alliance would only go forward with plans for a general strike only if 60% of the voters agree to one.
The National People’s Congress, China’s legislature, voted to enact a national security law customized for Hong Kong that would ban secession, subversion, terrorism, and foreign interference in the city. The passing of the law, which would bypass Hong Kong’s legislature, could come as early as the end of this month.
When asked if they were optimistic about getting 50,000 new members within a week, the group said it was not worried about meeting the minimum threshold.
Even if the alliance fails to gather a minimum of 60,000 members within a week, they would still host the referendum as planned and allow workers to sign up and vote at physical booths on the day.
“We won’t know how many people will actually show up until that day,” said Alex Tsui, a spokesperson for the Hong Kong Hotel Employees Union.
Tsui added that a referendum was the best way to represent public opinion and urged workers to come forward to cast their vote over the proposed national security law.
The strike, should it be given the go ahead, would be launched in phases. The first phase of industrial action would span three days, with workers taking sick or annual leaves in protest. In the second phase, workers would refuse to take part in their duties.
“This is a labor referendum. A very clear and strong sign from the labour [sector] to tell the government … that decent working men and women are against and are deeply concerned about the ‘one country, two systems’ being removed entirely by this new legislation,” said Carol Ng, chairperson of the Confederation of Trade Unions.
Separately, a student activist group also announced on Saturday that they would be hosting a referendum on the same day for students on whether they would organise a city-wide boycott of classes over the proposed law.
They would start planning for a school boycott if 60% of 10,000 voters agree to one.
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