A five-day strike by thousands of medical staff at public hospitals in a bid to force a total shutdown of Hong Kong borders to curb the spread of the coronavirus has no legal basis, and they should return to work immediately, said Lai Tung-kwok, New People’s Party executive vice-chairman.
He added that medical workers must not forget their pledge to take care of patients when they first joined the profession, and there’s no reason for them to desert their duties and increase the workload of other loyal colleagues as Hong Kong is under a growing threat from the epidemic.
I can’t see how the absence from duty by the healthcare staff involved is protected by the Basic Law and Hong Kong legislation
Lai Tung-kwok,
New People’s Party executive vice-chairman
The Hospital Authority has said the absence from duty of some 5,000 medical staff, mostly nurses, has seriously affected the operations of public hospitals, especially the emergency and accident unit, the neonatal intensive care unit and the obstetrics and gynaecology department.
The HA used the term “absent from duty”, showing it does not treat it as a strike, but warned that it may take disciplinary action against those who stay away from work.
Although the healthcare staff claim they’re on strike and their industrial action is protected by law, Lai, a former secretary for security, disagreed.
“It’s true that Article 27 of the Basic Law provides the right to strike. However, it has been pointed out in court judgments that the right to strike is not unlimited as any industrial action by workers should be reasonable and necessary,” he pointed out.
“In line with the Trade Unions Ordinance, employees can only have the right to strike if there are disputes over their employment conditions.
“The HA is the employer of healthcare workers with employment contracts. But, it’s not the business of the HA, nor does it have the authority, to close the checkpoints, so their self-proclaimed strike is not related to disputes between employers and employees.
“Therefore, I can’t see how the absence from duty by the healthcare staff involved is protected by the Basic Law and Hong Kong legislation,” said Lai.
He added that even those healthcare staff feel that their demands are legitimate and they are unhappy with the government, they should petition and express their views in a rational manner through the normal channels without affecting their work.
On Wednesday, healthcare workers who have been absent from work submitted a petitioned outside the Chief Executive’s Office, accompanied by lawmakers from the opposition camp.
Lai also said he was saddened the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data has found that some medical professionals, who have stuck to their posts, and those from the private sector who have offered to help in public hospitals, have been subjected to doxxing.
“Doxxing of medical personnel is not only unlawful, but also utterly unethical. Such behavior should be strongly condemned, and I believe the police and the privacy commissioner will spare no efforts in tracking down the culprits,” Lai said.
