Dozens of HK airport baggage handlers strike
By MIN LEE
Associated Press Writer
HONG KONG (AP) – Dozens of baggage handlers at Hong Kong’s international airport launched a three-hour strike Saturday to protest the cancellation of their annual merit bonuses, a labor organizer said.
The workers, along with freight handlers, tarmac workers and airport bus drivers, started the strike at 1 p.m. (0500 GMT) after talks with their managers at Hong Kong Airport Services Ltd. Broke down, organizer Ip Wai-ming told reporters. Local television news showed about 100 workers on strike gathered near cargo carts.
It was unclear if any baggage handlers defied the action and worked through the stoppage.
An Airport Authority official said 30 flights departed late and that baggage was delayed for passengers on 36 flights that arrived at the airport during the stoppage. Hong Kong’s international airport – one of Asia’s busiest – handled 47.8 million passengers in 2007.
The official, who declined to be named in line with company policy, said the airport operator had contacted other grounds services companies for help.
Ip, the deputy secretary general of the Staff and Workers Union of Hong Kong Civil Airlines, said the baggage handlers earn from 6,000 to 8,000 Hong Kong dollars ($770 to $1,030) a month and that the annual bonus, which usually amounts to a month’s pay, is a crucial part of their income.
He said management at Hong Kong Airport Services refused to resume the full bonus pay but offered a one-time additional payment of HK$750 to each worker that they rejected.
“This is quite far from what we demanded,” Ip said.
Hong Kong Airport Services personnel manager Carol Chu said management planned to hold another round of talks with the workers and noted that the company had increased salaries by up to 4 percent this year.
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