Fishermen demands compensation from Hong Kong Electric

About 2,800 fishermen are demanding HK$1.4 billion compensation from Hong Kong Electric (HKEC) for the loss of fish stock and fishing gear caused by the laying of a natural gas pipeline in the seabed (approx. HK$500,000 compensation for each registered fishing-boat). The underwater pipeline runs from Shenzhen Ping Chau to HKEC's Lamma Island power station.

The fishermen claimed that they were never told the rocks would reach above the seabed until last October. The fishermen also found the rocks to cover the pipeline was in parts as tall as 3 meters above the seabed.

Supporting the fishermen's claim, WWF Hong Kong said that the Environmental Impact Assessment submitted by HKEC in 1998 did not disclose in writing that there would be stony hillocks. Representative of WWF also agreed that the construction has affected the marine life temporarily.

In response, HKEC replied that the construction is not finish and it is too early to decide the matter. The company added they have already given the government an ex-gratia allowance as a guarantee in case something like this happens. However, according to the fisherman, the fund only composed of HK$240,000.

Source: Mimi Lau, 'Fisherman demand $1.4b compensation', The Standard 26 January 2006.

Update: Hotel sacked staff, breaking promise

Following the news on Mandarin Oriental firing 31 staff last week, here is the update.

The hotel company has refused to re-hire 20 hotel staff it laid off and FTU are threatening legal action against them.

The union accuses the hotel company of violating contracts signed with the sacked employees on December 28, ahead of the hotel's closure for renovation. The contracts stated that the employees will be assigned to other jobs within Jardine Group.

Representative of the hotel company denied that there were such contracts signed by both parties.

A protest will be staged today at Jardine House.

Source: Anita Lam, 'Mandarin accused of violating job contracts', SCMP 25 January 2006.

Giordano Sweatshops!?

This news has been on the web for a while but no local newspapers have reported it. On 10 December 2005, the Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM) put out a press release accusing a local brand, Giordano, of failing its CSR. The report titled, "'World Without Strangers' That Excluded Workers" cover four factories that Giordano source from and one factory that is directly owned by Giordano and found labour law violations in all factories, reflecting insufficient monitoring by the company.

SACOM's representative, Vivien Yau said,

"The Ethical Sourcing Code of Giordano falls far behind standard and is not actualised to the factory level. When their staff visit the factories, they focus on product qualities rather working conditions. If Giordano is serious about building a 'World Without Strangers', they should start from their own operations, ensuring common and reasonable working conditions in both the factories they owned and the outsource factories."

In addition, SACOM has sent a letter to Giordano's CEO and Chair, Mr Lau, annd request the following:

• Ensure the labour law are respected and implemented
• Strengthen the implementation of Giordano's code on workers' rights, etc.
• Increase transparency in CSR
• Raise order prices to truly reflect labour costs
• Make guideline on procedures of cutting orders

You can read the report here in Chinese.

Corporates urge government to improve planning in Victoria Harbour

A group of leading corporate executives is hoping to meet with Chief Executive, Donal Tsang, after Chinese New Year to raise their concerns over developments along the harbour front.

The executive committee member of the coalition, Mr Paul Zimmerman, said,

"Their message is to ask the government to protect our harbour, to have some good planning and to get somebody to be in change of the harbour. The meeting will not be about the development of a particular site."

The coalition's main concern is the lack of long-term vision for the design of the harbour and harbourfront districts. They are also unhappy with the lack of coordination between 17 governmet departments involved in harbour developments.

The members of the coalition are: HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Jardine Matheson, the Swire Group, Sun Hung Kai Properties, Wharf (Holdings), Citic Pacific, the Kadoorie Group, the Kerry Group, BNP Paribas and the Lai Sun Group.

Source: Chloe Lai, 'Tycoons want discussions with Tsang to boost harbour planning', SCMP 23 January 2006.

KCRC: More problems coming out

The KCRC train faults seem to be never ending at this moment. 19 more components of East Rail trains have been found with cracks yesterday. This bring a total of 233 defective components.

The KCRC management and frontline staff under the microscope everyday. The frontline staff are facing enormous pressure to check the problems and at the same time to maintain a reliable service and safety.

Source: Felix Chan, 'Inspections find 19 more train faults', SCMP 21 January 2006.

Hotel sacked staff, breaking promise

Today's SCMP reported that the Mandarin Oriental Hotel has sacked 31 staff as a result of its closure for renovations.

According to the Federation of Trade Unions (FTU), sacked hotel staff has asked for help, after the hotel broke their promise of not make any redundancies during the renovation. FTU representative organised a protest outside the hotel company office yesterday and met with the hotel executives.

The hotel has now promised to consider reinstating the staff positions or offer them jobs at other organisations under the company group. The hotel will also cooperate with the Labour Department to help workers and no more redundancies were planned.

The hotel is owned by the Jardine Group and is under an eight months renovation.

Source: Anita Lam, 'Mandarin has sacked 31 staff, union claims', SCMP 21 January 2006.

Hong Kong CSR

Welcome to Hong Kong CSR Blog!

This blog will put up any news, articles and reports on CSR issues happening in Hong Kong.

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