A referendum will be held this weekend to vote on a Hong Kong-wide strike in opposition to the looming national security law Beijing has proposed for the city.

The referendum is organized by Hong Kong on Strike, an alliance consisting 30 labor unions across 20 industries as well as the Secondary School Student Preparatory Platform for Action.

Announcing the details yesterday, the alliance said that ballot stations would be set up across the city on Saturday. Voters will be asked whether they opposed Beijing's decision to enact the national security law and whether they agreed with a motion to launch strikes and class boycotts to oppose the legislation.

According to the alliance, a minimum threshold of 60,000 labor union members was required for the vote on industrial action. If two-thirds of the turnout supported the motion, organizers would begin preparations for a large-scale strike. Citywide class boycotts would also be launched if more than two-thirds of at least 5,000 secondary school students cast votes at the ballot stations to support the motion.

The referendum is an expression of discontent over the national security law being pushed on Hong Kong. Beijing bypassed the city's legislature last month when it revealed plans to enact the law. The move has been seen as a radical step by the central government to tighten its grip on the semi-autonomous city, and many have raised fears that it would stifle Hong Kong's much-treasured freedoms.

Joining the alliance are civil-servant unions that have come under fire from the government for openly voicing their views on the national security law.

Michael Ngan, the chairperson of the Union for New Civil Servants, said civil servants were entitled to express their concerns on "matters and policies of gravity" like all Hong Kong citizens.

Ngan also said that the provisions and manner of the national security law were "likely trigger points for bodily conflicts" and that such conflicts would erode the relationship between the public and the civil service. He added that the motions for industrial action would thereby protect the interests of civil servants.

Spokesperson for the Secondary School Student Preparatory Platform for Action Isaac Cheng called on Hong Kong students to cast their votes on Saturday since the referendum may be their last chance to express their political views.

"The national security law for Hong Kong is a knife against our necks and poses grave threats to the liberty and rights of students," he said. "All forms of political expression will be prohibited once the national security law is fully in force."

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