Shippers fears rise as dock strike escalates ahead of May Day mini-peak BOTH sides in the Hong Kong dock strike escalated hostilities yesterday as a mini-peak season prompted by next week's three-day May 1 holiday on the mainland increased factory output and cargo flows into the strike-bound container terminals.
"The situation had been getting better," said Sunny Ho, executive director of the Hong Kong Shippers Council. "HIT [Hongkong International Terminals] had increased productivity from 80 to 85 per cent - but that was based on a lower throughput. The situation is different now - and more serious."
Mr Ho also told the Hong Kong Shipping Gazette that pressure on the terminals had been eased in the past by having empties and transshipments diverted to other ports, but now fresh export cargo is arriving in from the mainland in the build-up before the annual holiday.
The striking dockers at the Kwai Chung terminal also held a slow disruptive three-hour march yesterday from Terminal 6 to Terminals 2 and 3, blocking truck traffic, prompting HIT to increase security and call for police back up.
The police said the dockers gave them no notice of their march, and they intended to consult prosecutors to determine if further legal action is warranted.Meanwhile there was management escalation at the Cheung Kong Centre in Central, where the ultimate owners of HIT, Hutchison Whampao, is headquartered, and where dockers have been camped out for a week.
The management company that administers the building ordered the dockers to break camp and remove themselves or face an injunction, the legal costs of which they would bear. The property management company claimed that access to the building had been blocked and the dockers' occupation of private property and had disrupted and inconvenienced occupants. The dockers said they would not leave.
Both the marching strikers and those camped out in Central demand that HIT participate in the negotiations, which it has refused to do because HIT is not the direct employers of the dockers. The dockers are employed by several stevedoring contractors, who are paid by HIT to supply dockside labour.
Labour Secretary Matthew Cheung appealed to both sides to return to bargaining and end the disruptive strike which has caused Hong Kong's economy considerable damage.
"The situation had been getting better," said Sunny Ho, executive director of the Hong Kong Shippers Council. "HIT [Hongkong International Terminals] had increased productivity from 80 to 85 per cent - but that was based on a lower throughput. The situation is different now - and more serious."
Mr Ho also told the Hong Kong Shipping Gazette that pressure on the terminals had been eased in the past by having empties and transshipments diverted to other ports, but now fresh export cargo is arriving in from the mainland in the build-up before the annual holiday.
The striking dockers at the Kwai Chung terminal also held a slow disruptive three-hour march yesterday from Terminal 6 to Terminals 2 and 3, blocking truck traffic, prompting HIT to increase security and call for police back up.
The police said the dockers gave them no notice of their march, and they intended to consult prosecutors to determine if further legal action is warranted.Meanwhile there was management escalation at the Cheung Kong Centre in Central, where the ultimate owners of HIT, Hutchison Whampao, is headquartered, and where dockers have been camped out for a week.
The management company that administers the building ordered the dockers to break camp and remove themselves or face an injunction, the legal costs of which they would bear. The property management company claimed that access to the building had been blocked and the dockers' occupation of private property and had disrupted and inconvenienced occupants. The dockers said they would not leave.
Both the marching strikers and those camped out in Central demand that HIT participate in the negotiations, which it has refused to do because HIT is not the direct employers of the dockers. The dockers are employed by several stevedoring contractors, who are paid by HIT to supply dockside labour.
Labour Secretary Matthew Cheung appealed to both sides to return to bargaining and end the disruptive strike which has caused Hong Kong's economy considerable damage.