Unionist Arrested Over Restaurant Protest

At least two people were arrested during a protest inside a Mei Foo restaurant on Sunday, including a member of the pro-democracy Confederation of Trade Unions (CTU).

Union representatives say they were at the Fulum Palace restaurant together with staff to protest the management's handling of unpaid leave for workers.

Some staff claim they were ignored when they demanded compensation from the restaurant after being forced to take unpaid leave since February.

Among the group was CTU member Lam Siu-mei.

She said she was arrested during the protest but wasn’t given a specific reason. Lam said officers just accused her of being uncooperative and quickly handcuffed her.

Lam said she was later told that she had been arrested for disorder in a public place, before police released her from Cheung Sha Wan police station some ten hours later.

"The police arrested me for disorder in public place”, she said. “But the problem is, it's always the officers themselves who create social disorder, no matter if it’s street protests, or unions setting up peaceful street booths."

She added that the union had tried to get answers from the restaurant chain several times before deciding to demand answers directly at its Mei Foo branch.

Fulum Group had issued a profits warning last week, saying it's lost over HK$200 million over first three months of this year.

That compares with a HK$25 million profit for 2019.

The restaurant had been in trouble even before the coronavirus crisis hit having closed 11 of its outlets last November.

Its business had been affected by months of anti-government protests.

Protesters had also branded the firm as a pro-government chain and boycotted its restaurants.