Government Urged To Stop Importing Foreign Workers

Labour representatives on Wednesday called on the government to stop allowing foreign workers to take up jobs in Hong Kong for the time being to keep more jobs for locals – with the unemployment rate at an almost ten-year high amid the coronavirus crisis.

Bill Tang of the Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) was among those who made the call at a meeting of a meeting of the Labour Advisory Board.

Employer representatives expressed sympathy with the plight of workers, but expressed reservations about a blanket ban on imported workers.

Jimmy Kwok of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries suggested it'd be better to tighten vetting of applications for existing labour importation schemes.

“Employers in Hong Kong… may have difficulty [finding] local workers”, he said. “But we support very much [adding more restrictions to] the application process to allow more local job opportunities.”

Meanwhile, Tang also reiterated demands for the government to officially list Covid-19 as an occupational disease to give more protection to workers, as soon as possible.

The former legislator said this would make it easier for employees who do fall sick to make insurance claims, saying currently, firms are typically extremely suspicious of all such cases.

He said they would ask, for example, how patients can be sure they had contracted the virus in the workplace, rather than in a social setting.

Ho Sai-chu from the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, meanwhile, said the government should start helping businesses prepare for a full work resumption once the pandemic eases.