MTR Pay Rises Are Not Enough: Union

Railway unionists on Wednesday said they are not satisfied with pay rises the MTR Corporation is planning to give staff, complaining they fail to catch up with inflation accumulated in the past two years when salaries were frozen.

The corporation has announced pay increases of between 1.6 and 5 percent, with the vast majority of staff getting at least 3.3 percent, effective from July 1.

Workers will also get a bonus of between one and two months' salary, depending on performance.

After meeting MTR management, representatives of the Federation of Railway Trade Unions said it will consult its 4,500 members on what they make of the pay rises.

The federation's chairman, Lam Wai-keung, said the increases will only offset inflation in 2022, and salaries will still fall behind the cost of living after they were frozen in the previous two years.

"During the pandemic, our train service is maintained as normal due to our frontline staff's hard work, who did overtime and worked on their rest days," said Tam Kin-chiu, the group's vice-chairman.

"But the adjustment for pay review is far behind the accumulation of inflation, so it's regrettable."

Lam called on the MTR to improve its pay structure by offering increments according to the seniority of workers, in order to retain talent.