Hong Kong
Construction in Hong Kong: Failure to provide English language information
symptomatic of endemic discrimination against Ethnic minority workers?
The Hong Kong SAR government was recently criticized for its failure
to provide English language information on a new compulsory registration
scheme and related courses for ethnic minority construction workers
in Hong Kong.
A new Construction Worker Registration Scheme makes it obligatory
for all construction workers to be registered with a newly formed
body set up by the government which also classifies the workers
into three main categories; skilled, semi-skilled or general workers.
The scheme has been widely publicized in Cantonese but not in English
or any other language leaving most ethnic minority workers in the
dark. Almost all related courses to allow workers to rise through
the three categories and gain extra training and skills are conducted
in Cantonese only, meaning ethnic minority workers face barriers
to improving their rankings and earning higher wages.
It is estimated that some 30 percent of south Asian workers in
Hong Kong work in the construction industry. Unison, a local Hong
Kong group working on racial discrimination issues estimates that
up to 40 per cent of Nepalese and Pakistani workers in Hong Kong
are in the construction industry. According to the Executive Director
of UNISON, Chow Sau fong, the majority of South Asian construction
workers were still unaware of the new Construction Workers Registration
System introduced last December. [1] A survey of 102 such workers
conducted by Unison and the Hong Kong Workers Union last month found
that some 64 percent knew nothing of the registration system. "Given
ethnic minorities construction workers are lacking vocational training
opportunities; we suspect this system indirectly discriminates against
ethnic minority construction workers".
According to official requirements only construction workers who
hold the trade test certificate and recognized qualifications can
register as skilled workers. In practice this means that many non-Cantonese
native speakers are severely hampered when registering and when
taking the tests. In one example given by the South China Morning
Post, a Nepalese construction worker reported that he had to hire
an interpreter, who charged $400 a session, to help him through
a three-day plant-operator course and test administered by the Construction
Industry Training Authority. This is despite the fact that the majority
of Nepalese, Pakistani and other South Asian ethnic workers are
permanent residents of Hong Kong.
Written and spoken Chinese was not a requirement for construction
work and this is one reason why so many Hong Kong South Asians work
in the industry, but the new registration scheme, publicized in
Cantonese alongside the fact that most training courses and examinations
are in Cantonese mean that even in this industry, ethnic minority
workers face increasing discrimination in terms of career advancement,
wage increases and official registration. Unison has reported that
almost 95 percent of ethnic minority workers want English language
job training and Cantonese classes for ethnic minority citizens
in Hong Kong. [2]
In addition, the government has put the emphasis on workers to
group together into groups of 15 in order to attend a class but
this is not possible for ethnic minority workers who also would
also need to request English interpretation which is not provided.
According to a Hong Kong Workers Union spokesperson, Dasu Ram Parajuli,
many of its members had to wait a year or more for training in English.
Racial Discrimination in Hong Kong: Background
[3]
In general ethnic minorities in Hong Kong face severe problems
in finding jobs, and the unemployment rate is significantly higher
than for the indigenous population. A 2003 survey conducted by the
Society for Community Organization (SoCo) showed that while 42 percent
of Nepalese construction workers were out of jobs by the end of
2003, the figure was 19 percent for Hong Kong’s overall construction
labour population (while HK’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate
stood at 7.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2003). [4] Figures
from other surveys, which include other minority groups, reveal
the same tendency of a disproportionately higher unemployment rate
among the minorities.
According to Unison, 70 percent of ethnic minorities in Hong Kong
work in primary industries and current unemployment for the community
as a whole stands at around 40 percent. According to various Unison
and SoCo surveys almost 60 percent have been rejected from jobs
because of their inability to speak Cantonese while over 40 percent
have been subject to racial bullying and unequal treatment at work
including unreasonable sackings (32 percent) and unequal health
and safety provisions (17 percent). [5] Over half receive a lower
salary than local Cantonese workers. A survey in 2001 found that
of those who had applied for a job within the last 10 years, 32
percent had suffered from some form of discrimination in applying
for a job. Either they were rejected because the employer knew their
race, or else they were rejected on the grounds that they did not
know Cantonese, even though the job did not require the ability
to speak the language.
Hong Kong currently has no law barring racial discrimination and
the government is currently in the process of drafting a law. However
the government proposals have come under fire from local groups
and unions who are concerned that the proposed bill fails to remove
much of the systemic causes of racial discrimination in employment.
For example the Hong Kong Human Rights Commission noted that there
have been insufficient efforts in providing suitable school places
for ethnic minorities.[6] In 2001 there were only seven schools
for the whole ethnic minority population in Hong Kong with some
3,069 students are enrolled in these schools while there were some
5,300 ethnic minority children aged between 5-14 - some 39.3% of
children from ethnic minorities have difficulties in even finding
a school. Additional issues concern the problem of language provision
as there is little or no native language teaching for Nepali and
other South Asian children and few classes in Cantonese for ethnic
minority children (as opposed to classes run for new immigrants
from the mainland (Mandarin to Cantonese teaching). Such endemic
discrimination means that the majority of children have little options
in employment after school and few opportunities for advancement.
IHLO
April 2006
Notes
[1] South China Morning Post 9 April 2006
[2] Unison Employment Situation of Ethnic Minority People
[3] This short summary does not cover the serious issues around
migrant labour in Hong Kong, in particular the discrimination and
abuses faced by foreign domestic helpers who currently number between
200,000 and 250,000.
[4] AMRC Racial Discrimination at Work in Hong Kong December 2004
[5] Unison Employment Situation of Ethnic Minority People
[6] Coalition for racial equality (CORE) and Hong Kong Human Rights
Commission (HKHRC) Joint Submission to the United Nations Committee
on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination On the First Report
in respect of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's
Republic of China under the International Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Racial Discrimination July 2001
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