Hongkong Footwear Industry "Minimum Wage" Cited Controversy Still Can Not Catch Up With "Inflation".

< p > from the nominal to the controversy, it took 79 years to complete the legal minimum wage in Hongkong.

Hongkong's first "a href=" http://sjfzxm.com/news/index_c.asp "legal minimum wage" /a level was set at HK $28 per hour and was officially implemented in May 1, 2011.

Two years later, in May 1, 2013, the statutory minimum wage increased to HK $30 per hour, an increase of 7.1%.

< /p >

< p >, however, the labor and capital's tug of war is continuing.

As a coin, the statutory minimum wage has two positive and negative effects.

When the economy is in good condition, everything goes smoothly, but if the economy turns, the negative effect will come to an end.

< /p >

< p > < strong > game of all parties has created a statutory minimum wage < /strong > /p >

< p > 1932, there was a "a href=" http://sjfzxm.com/news/index_c.asp "minimum wage < /a" Ordinance in Hongkong, but there was no substance.

< /p >

< p > the 50~70 era of the last century, < a href= "http://sjfzxm.com/news/index_c.asp > > textile industry < /a > is the pillar industry in Hongkong. At that time Hongkong was referred to as" sweatshop ".

Until the late 80s and early 90s of last century, the disparity between the rich and the poor began to intensify in Hongkong's economic pformation. Local unions began to demand minimum wage. The topic of minimum wage entered the Hongkong society and caused widespread discussion.

< /p >

< p > in response to the demand for wage protection for low paid employees, the chief executive of the Hongkong Special Administrative Region announced in October 2008 that the statutory minimum wage was declared in the policy address.

< /p >

< p > at the same time, when the government makes the main bill, the chief executive appointed the Provisional Minimum Wage committee to advise the chief executive on the level of the first statutory minimum wage.

< /p >

< p > the members of the Provisional Minimum Wage Committee come from the labour, business, academic and government sectors.

The task of the committee is to set the statutory minimum wage at an appropriate level, and strike a balance between preventing low wages, avoiding the loss of low paid jobs and maintaining Hongkong's economic development and competitiveness.

< /p >

< p > July 17, 2010, the Hongkong Legislative Council passed the minimum wage bill, laying the legal foundation for the statutory minimum wage system.

If the employer owes the minimum wage equivalent to the arrears of wages, it can be prosecuted.

Upon conviction, the maximum penalty is 350 thousand Hong Kong dollars and 3 years' imprisonment.

< /p >

< p > in October of that year, the Provisional Minimum Wage Commission recommended to the chief executive that the first statutory minimum wage level be set at HK $28 per hour.

The proposal was accepted and approved by the Legislative Council and implemented from May 1, 2011.

< /p >

< p > Zhang Jianzong, director of the Hongkong labour and Welfare Bureau, said the minimum wage is set at HK $28, which is 48% of the median salary of HK $58.5 in 2009.

After the implementation of the legislation, the average wage of low income earners will increase by 16.9%, about 314 thousand and 600 people will benefit, accounting for 11% of the total number of employees in Hongkong, and the annual salary expenditure will increase by HK $3 billion 300 million.

< /p >

< p > low wage industries mainly refer to 15 sub sectors, such as retail, catering, property management, security and cleaning services.

After the implementation of the minimum wage, the 2012 Minimum Wage Commission reported that the median wage of the whole low wage industry rose from HK $7900 in 2010 4~6 to HK $9000 in 2011 5~6, an increase of 13.9%.

< /p >

< p > < strong > loss rate of low wage jobs or increase < /strong > < /p >

< p > however, the controversy surrounding the statutory minimum wage has never stopped.

< /p >

< p > because of the low overall interest rate of the low wage industry, many people worry that the statutory minimum wage will reduce the recruitment intention of the industry, or even reduce the manpower significantly, which will make some of the small profit enterprises lose profits or even go bankrupt, and the situation of large enterprises monopolizing the market will deteriorate in disguise.

Some people believe that the statutory minimum wage will affect Hongkong's competitiveness.

< /p >

Professor P, Professor of economics, Hong Kong University Science & Technology, has consistently opposed the minimum wage legislation.

He wrote many times that the minimum wage would lead to the unemployment of disadvantaged groups and youth, which is the main conclusion of economics.

< /p >

< p > the minimum wage committee reports that from the current situation, the statutory minimum wage has improved the living standard of the low wage earners, and Hongkong is still almost universal employment, and even has a shortage of labor such as dishwasher.

For small and medium-sized enterprises, the rise of labor costs is still an acceptable category compared with the increase in rents and other costs.

Hongkong is still at the forefront of the free economy.

< /p >

< p > the minimum wage Committee evaluates the impact of the implementation of the first statutory minimum wage through a basket of indicators covering four areas: the overall economic situation, the labour market situation, competitiveness and social inclusion.

The assessment shows that the impact of the first statutory minimum wage level is more positive than negative, but this is mainly due to the strong Hongkong economy in 2011, which greatly relieved the pressure of the statutory minimum wage on the economy, employment market and enterprises.

< /p >

< p > Lei Ding Ming also believes that Hongkong is in the period of economic expansion during the implementation of the minimum wage. There is still not enough data to prove the impact of the minimum wage on Hongkong.

< /p >

< p > but for the low wage class, the minimum wage is still a drop in the bucket.

A survey of civil minimum wage unions composed of various groups said that 65% of respondents wanted minimum wage to increase to HK $33 per hour.

The union demanded that the minimum wage increase to HK $35 under high inflation.

< /p >

The P > minimum wage Committee believes that the overall economic growth of Hongkong has begun to slow down significantly and the peripheral economic environment is getting worse, so the minimum wage has been raised from HK $2 to HK $30 from HK $28 two years later.

< /p >

Professor Zhou Jili, deputy director of the Department of Asian and policy studies of Hongkong Institute of education, told reporters that the minimum wage brought about ripple effect and promoted the wages of other types of work, to some extent, resulting in an increase in the turnover rate of low paid workers and a shortage of P.

< /p >

< p > he believes that the minimum wage increase is still not up to < a href= "http://sjfzxm.com/news/index_c.asp" > inflation < /a >, which can not solve the problem of in-service poverty. At the same time, the government should consider modifying the biennial review period to once a year.

< /p >