Hong Kong artist laments ‘unreasonable’ sacking by McDonald’s

A Hong Kong artist known for advocating labour rights has said McDonald’s was “unreasonable” in sacking him for having publicly shared internal operational and commercial information, adding that he found it difficult to file a complaint without a proper contract.

Luke Ching Chin-wai, a former part-time janitor at a McDonald’s outlet in Fortune Plaza Arcade in Tai Po, told the Post his story on Monday, a day after the fast food chain informed him of his termination.

McDonald’s Hong Kong had said an unnamed part-time worker repeatedly violated its policies by sharing internal operational and commercial information on public platforms throughout the six months of his employment.

Ching, 53, explained that senior management had met him last week and told him that his social media post revealing his branch’s revenue of over HK$100,000 (US$12,800) in a morning constituted a breach of internal confidentiality.

Ching had promised not to post anything deemed sensitive again. In the past week, he had made two social media posts, including a video calling for mealtime pay and a letter to McDonald’s management to share his experiences at work.

“The sacking is unreasonable. I understand that the management is nervous when an employee voices an opinion but they have used the wrong way to deal with it,” Ching said.