Elevator maintenance workers employed by ThyssenKrupp Elevator Hong Kong, on strike for higher pay, threaten to escalate the action after the company rejected their demand for a 20 percent pay increase.

About 50 maintaining workers went on strike on Monday at the company's headquarters in Hung Hom.

Mok Yun-chuen, a worker's representative, said the they will continue to strike on Tuesday, and will not respond to emergencies, even to passengers trapped in lifts.

More than 80 percent of the workers in the company's maintenance department have joined the action.

Another 20 or so have asked for sick leaves, paralyzing the company's business.

In response, the company, which maintains elevators in more than 600 buildings, issued a statement, saying salary adjustments are decided by the company revenues and by individual on-the-job performance.

The statement, noting the company is undertaking a study to compare salaries in the industry, promised a pay adjustment beginning in 2012.

The basic monthly salaries for workers at the company are about HK$6,000, 40 percent lower than the average pay in the maintenance market, said the workers on strike.

Some of the experienced workers, who have been with the company for more than seven years, are only paid HK$7,000, according to a worker whose surname is Chan.

Apart from saying they are underpaid, the workers complained they are required to work heavy overtime.

"Some even worked for about 100 hours (continuously without adequate rest)," Chan said.

The company, which established its clientele by undercutting rates, is one of 38 companies providing elevator services in Hong Kong.

In order to cut costs, the company normally send only one maintenance worker for an elevator, according to the workers.

For maintenance work at the Tai Po Fu Shin Estate, the company charged around HK$1,000, only a quarter of the market price.

Workers called on the company to add more manpower and dispatch two workers, instead of one, to ensure the efficiency of the work and the safety of the workers.

In 2008, a lift at Tai Po Fu Shin Estate, maintained by the company, crashed abruptly, falling several floors, owing to broken steel cables.

In February, an escalator at Hong Kong Design Institute in Tiu Keng Leng, also maintained by the company, malfunctioned as several steps collapsed while the escalator was operating.

stushadow@chinadailyhk.com

China Daily

(HK Edition 09/27/2011 page1)