Hospital Staff Call Off Sit-in After New Pay Offer

Support staff at public hospitals have called off a planned sit-in protest after coming to a preliminary pay rise agreement with the Hospital Authority.

The workers had demanded a 12-percent pay hike after rejecting the authority's offer of rises of up to nine percent for new staff, but smaller increases for experienced workers.

At talks on Wednesday, management made a counter-offer of eight percent across the board.

The Hospital Authority's chief executive, Leung Pak-yin, said there was a good atmosphere at the meeting, which lasted less than an hour.

He said both sides would now need to check whether the deal was acceptable.

"Of course, our colleagues are going to go back and talk to their staff to see whether they accept the eight percent proposal. At the same time, we need to go back to the HA board and also the government to see whether they are going to support this proposal," Leung said.

Following the talks, a union representative said the sit-in planned at the authority's headquarters on Thursday had now been cancelled.