Working Conditions

Legal Action against HKCTU: ICFTU affiliates appeal

On 26 July 2006 the ICFTU issued an urgent appeal for affiliates to send letters asking that legal action against the ICFTU affiliate the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions is dropped.

The ICFTU also wrote to Gold Peak directly asking that the demands of the workers for adequate compensation and treatment be addressed. See here for text: http://www.ihlo.org/C/GP%20Workers/3107061.html

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The ICFTU’s affiliate the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU), together with two other organisations, is facing legal action for its campaign to support the efforts of workers in battery factories in China to be given proper compensation for exposure to excessive levels of cadmium and cadmium poisoning.

Mr. Victor Lo Chung Wing
Chairman and CEO
Gold Peak Industries (Holdings) Limited
8/F Gold Peak Building
30 Kwai Wing Road
Kwai Chung, Hong Kong SAR

+ 852 2480 5912

Dear Mr. Lo Chung Wing,

Legal Action against the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions

On behalf of the (NAME OF YOUR ORGANISATION) I am writing to protest at the commencement of legal action you have taken against the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU), together with two other local Hong Kong labour groups, Globalisation Monitor and the Neighbourhood and Workers’ Service Centre.

We understand that they are facing a summons from the High Court for damages, further to a joint postcard highlighting concerns over the cadmium poisoning and excessive exposure to cadmium of battery workers in your factories. 

According to many reports, some 400 workers from at least two GP factories (Xianjin and Chaoba) have been found to have excessive cadmium levels while 10 workers have already been diagnosed as having cadmium poisoning. Many are now facing huge medical bills and are unable to find new employment, yet only four percent of the 400 workers affected have received compensation from the GP Fund so far.

We firmly support the right of the HKCTU, a respected and legitimate trade union organisation affiliated to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), to take up the cause of these workers, who are denied freedom of association under Chinese law. The workers have been remarkably brave and united in their fight for compensation and deserve to be listened to and not silenced. We strongly urge you to drop any legal action against the HKCTU and the two other groups immediately and concentrate instead on negotiating a fair compensation package for the workers involved.

                                                                                           Yours sincerely,

IHLO July 2006