Company's profit of HK$9.6 billion should enable bigger raises: Unions

The Mass Transit Railway (MTR) has offered a 2.2-percent-to-3.3-percent pay increase for about 99 percent of the company's staff, less than the 5 percent increase demanded by trade unions. The package was unveiled Monday at the conclusion of collective bargaining.

At a meeting with representatives of 7 unions at its Kowloon Bay headquarters, MTR disclosed a performance-based wage review plan. If the plan is accepted by the unions, staff will be rated on a descending five point scale. Top performers accounting for roughly 10 percent of staff will get a 3.3 percent wage hike. Level 4 will get a 2.6 percent increase, Level 3, 2.2. Remaining staff will get a monthly increase of 1.1 percent or will remain unchanged. Besides wage increases, MTR also reviewed its bonus scheme. Staff rated in the top 3 performance groups will be entitled to bonuses equivalent to 1.37-month wages, 1.03-month wages and 0.7-month wage, respectively. MTR currently employs over 12,000 staff.

Representatives from labor unions expressed disappointment after the meeting. Lam Wai-keung, deputy chairman of Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway Staff General Association, complained that MTR had ignored the heavy cost of living burden faced by employees and failed to share its good financial gains with employees. He said that further action aimed at pressuring the company for higher increases cannot be ruled out. He said it will be determined by discussion among the union membership. MTR posted a profit of over HK$9.6 billion for the financial year ended December 31, 2009.

Lau Choi-hong, chairman of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Operating Staff Association, said her union was resigned to accepting the review plan. The impressive earnings result of the company, said Lau, should have enabled MTR to give staff bigger raises, alleviating the pressure caused by inflation. According to data from The Census and Statistics Department, the city's overall consumer prices rose by 2.5 percent in May 2010, compared with the same month a year earlier.

The last time MTR reviewed staff wages was in July 2009, when the flagging economy sent the labor market into doldrums. MTR then announced a 0.4 percent to 1.2 percent upward revision in monthly wages for staff, while the management level was subject to a salary freeze. Labor unions were seriously dissatisfied with the result, as the increases were trivial compared to their 3 percent to 5 percent demand. But MTR responded that its decision was in contrast to the practices of sacking or mass salary freezes prevalent in the market.

China Daily

(HK Edition 07/13/2010 page1)