Читать книгу Hong Kong in Revolt - Au Loong-Yu - Страница 13

On the day of the class boycott on 22 September, twenty-five trade unions and civil society groups issued a joint statement accusing the existing political system of ‘repressing the demands of grassroots labour and making the potential to improve people’s livelihoods more difficult’. The statement not only called for universal suffrage but the implementation of standard working hours and a universal pension as well.⁷ Then, after 28 September, the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) called a general strike (social workers had already gone on strike earlier in September). The result was that only one and a half unions – the Swire Beverage Employees General Union and the Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union (HKPTU) – responded to the call (by ‘half’ I mean that the HKPTU was only half-hearted in its support of a general strike). It was a pity that although a large number of workers came out and took part in the occupation, the majority were not prepared to go on strike.