The Hong Kong Construction Industry General Union yesterday released the results of a survey on the employment situation of local rebar workers, indicating that more than 70% of respondents stated that they were either not working or working insufficient hours. This included nearly 30% of respondents who only worked 1 to 3 days a week, with reports of decreasing wages, raising concerns and worries, according to the union.
Citing statistics from the Construction Industry Council, the union noted that there are over 9,000 registered rebar workers in Hong Kong, with over 7,000 currently employed. Starting in late March, the union received calls from nearly a hundred workers seeking rebar job opportunities, prompting the investigation.
Between the 12th and 15th of this month, the union successfully interviewed 1,494 workers. Approximately 75% of them mentioned they had no work or insufficient hours recently. Furthermore, 28.7% of workers reported only working 1 to 3 days a week, with 40.1% and 25.9% respectively stating they had been without work for several weeks or even months.
The survey also revealed that over 95% of respondents indicated that this year’s employment situation was worse than last year. 93% of respondents claimed that their current daily wages did not meet the “union rate” of HK$2,730, published by the union in November last year.
However, attendance records from the construction industry showed that there were approximately 5,900 rebar workers who had worked on sites in the past month, with around 4,500 being fully employed, averaging at least 30 hours of work per week. The union pointed out that this situation was generally consistent with past employment trends for rebar workers.
The union expressed deep concern about the reports of insufficient work among some rebar workers and provided recommendations to the government, including urging the government to prioritize local workers in public works projects, reviewing the current project schedules to avoid a labor shortage, implementing effective oversight to limit the hiring of foreign workers, strengthening the “one skill, multiple skills” policy to empower workers with various technical abilities, allocating resources to improve job matching, and ensuring both existing and potential workers in the construction industry receive updated employment information.
责任编辑: 陳真