Dozens of Hong Kong labourers staged a sit-in outside a subsidised housing construction site to protest against weeks of unpaid wages after their employer was terminated by the top contractor, with a union warning such incidents would only rise amid a bleak economic outlook.
More than 20 workers tried on Tuesday to block the entrance to the site, where a Housing Society project was located, on On Hei Street in Sau Mau Ping as they demanded the top contractor Aggressive Construction Company to cover their pay from June to August.
The dispute arose after the contractor cut ties with its labourer subcontractor, Profield Construction Engineering, due to “delayed and substandard outputs” and failures in meeting payroll obligations.
“Aggressive Construction Company adheres strictly to scheduled payments, ensuring timely financial commitments are met in accordance with the project timeline,” a spokeswoman for the company said.
The construction firm said it had “proactively facilitated” payment of the wages for two months to fulfil its legal obligation, and pledged to continue to manage the payrolls for the subcontractor’s employees, without providing further details.
“A new subcontractor has been engaged to guarantee a seamless transition and accelerate the project’s progress,” she added.
The Housing Society is building about 1,400 subsidised homes for sale at the former quarry location, where a crane accident in 2022 left three workers dead and six others injured.
The society said work on the project was “proceeding as usual”, and it would follow up with the top contractor to ensure progress would not be affected.
The Labour Department confirmed in a statement there had been wage arrears at the site, but said that the problem “has been resolved” upon the department’s intervention and urged workers to seek assistance in case of further problems.
But Chau Sze-kit, chairman of the Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union, disputed the department’s claim, saying that about 50 workers had not received salaries amounting to more than HK$4 million (US$513,160).
He added that most workers had already sought help from the department after being denied entry to the site since Monday.
Chau said he understood the subcontractor was in financial trouble, adding the union had been responding to similar incidents “almost on a daily basis” since the beginning of July.
“If the economy is good and the cash flow is strong enough, subcontractors can continue to fill the gap with new payments and carry on. But as the economy gets worse, basically fresh disputes have arisen every day since July,” he said.
Chau added that the construction industry in Hong Kong has always been running on thin margins and many subcontractors are being hit hard as new projects dried up in the slow property market.
Top executives and directors of Aggressive Construction Company’s parent, Great Harvest Group, have reportedly received a 2 per cent pay cut, citing it has encountered “the most difficult adversity ever”.
The government is currently reviewing a licence renewal application by Aggressive Construction Company, which has been disqualified from bidding for public works projects until the end of year as a result of the 2022 accident.
