Teachers Should Join Wednesday's Protest: Union

The Professional Teachers’ Union (PTU) has called on members to join a protest rally outside the Legislative Council on Wednesday morning as lawmakers debate the contentious extradition law bill.

But the pro-democracy union, which is the largest teachers' group in the city, stopped short of calling a strike despite pressure for such a move by some school workers.

Lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen, who's a vice president of the PTU, said there would be further discussions this weekend regarding a strike.

In the meantime, he urged schools to be flexible and allow staff to protest on Wednesday.

The union also asked schools to understand the feelings of students planning to boycott classes.

The undersecretary for education, Christine Choi, said it would be irresponsible of teachers and students to skip classes in order to join the protest.

"There are so many ways they can express their opinions or views ... in a proper way and not by participating in such inappropriate action," Choi said.

The rally will come just days after a million-strong march against the extradition plans, in what was one of the largest protests ever seen in Hong Kong.

Despite the massive show of opposition, Chief Executive Carrie Lam has insisted that the law changes must still be made.