Trade Unions Call For Pandemic Unemployment Payments

Labour unions from both ends of the political spectrum on Monday called on the government to set up a fund to help the unemployed during the pandemic.

Speaking on RTHK's Talkabout programme, Bill Tang, of the pro-Beijing Federation of Trade Unions, said he expected the unemployment situation to worsen after the Lunar New Year. He proposed the government pay up to HK$9,000 per month, for six months, to those who had been forced to stop working due to the pandemic.

Speaking on the same programme, Mung Siu-tat, of the pro-democracy Confederation of Trade Unions, accused the government of only helping businesses and not the workers. He said the government should provide 80 percent of a worker's normal pay, capped at HK$16,000, for six months.