Sacked dockers cry foul over 'unfair' dismissal
Workers claim they were sacked over minor breaches, in what the union calls a retaliation against their participation in the 40-day strike
Three dockers have been laid off unfairly after they took part in a 40-day strike at the Kwai Tsing Container Terminals, the Union of Hong Kong Dockers claims.
The union, which organised the walkout over pay and work conditions, said yesterday that three workers of port contractor Pui Kee Stevedore had recently been dismissed from their jobs.
Two were told that minor breaches - forgetting to don a safety helmet and playing with his mobile phone while at work - cost them their jobs.
The third was dismissed after being accused of publicising the company's internal information.
In the past, workers in breach of rules were issued warnings or suspended from work for a few days, but never fired for their first violations, the union said. The severe punishment this time was retaliation against the workers for joining the strike, the union's general secretary Stanley Ho Wai-hong claimed.
"The company should compensate them for the unreasonable dismissal," he said. "The government should also prosecute the company for breaching the Employment Ordinance."
The law bans employers from dismissing, penalising or discriminating against an employee for taking part in trade union activities. Those guilty can be prosecuted and fined HK$100,000.
