Originally Posted by
Sam Ting Wong
I believe there is a misconception here.
The company is our employer, and we are employees.
We are not citizen in a democracy.
We do not have voting rights. POS 18 is not up for a vote.
We can only vote in an internal union referendum wether to accept the latest company offer or to continue with the status quo. The other vote on offer is with your feet. That's it. All our wish lists, our minimum requirements, our envisions of an acceptable future package, all that is just a castle in the sky. The company doesn't have to negotiate anything at all. They do occasionally sit down and talk with our representatives. It is completely voluntarily to my knowledge, there is no legal requirement to find an agreement with us under Hong Kong law.
Additionally, I warn to overestimate the power of a training ban. There are ways around it. They might cost something, but so would giving in to demands.
We are not as strong as some of you believe.
This could end in a tragedy.
The last rejection is already hurting us.
Don't make the same mistake twice.
This is the entire point of a union Sam, to inject some much needed democracy into the tyranny of a company. You might accuse me of hyperbole but without people fighting for their rights as employees we would have 12 year old working 20 hours a day in coal mines. Without people fighting for their conditions do you really believe that they would not continuously be eroded at the whims of management and shareholders?
You have correctly hit upon the main reason the union is not as effective as it's members would like, and that's Hong Kong law, but we must not give into fatalism and accept whatever paltry compromise the negotiating team vomits up. You want to be pragmatic, I get it, but you must acknowledge that the economic situation that the company finds itself in is improving and compared to the last time an offer was made it's future is looking bright.
Pragmatically speaking, the membership would be wise to reject this bad deal, and continue to patiently negotiate while the economic climate continues to improve and make the company's positions look ridiculously untenable. Keep up the training ban, and keep up the pressure. Don't give in to fear-mongering, media-smearing, and bully tactics.