HONG KONG (SE): To celebrate its 20th anniversary and to mark the first celebration of the International Labour Day 130 years ago, the Diocesan Pastoral Centre for Workers – Hong Kong Island began a rosary campaign on May 1.
During the Month of the Rosary, people are invited to pray the rosary for 20 intentions for the different kinds of people who may be experiencing hardship amid the Covid-19 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, including working mothers, cleaning workers, the unemployed workers, sales people and foreign domestic workers.
Antonio Tsui Chung-man, the centre’s supervisor, said they could not celebrate its anniversary this year due to the pandemic. However, the centre hopes more people will show concern for the difficulties encountered by workers.
A survey carried out by the Diocesan Commission for Labour Affairs on the situations of cleaning workers in February (Sunday Examiner, March 8) and another on security workers in March (Sunday Examiner, May 3) showed that their workloads during the pandemic had increased while employers had failed to supply them with adequate protection despite the high risk of contracting Covid-19 at work.
The commission set up pastoral centres for workers in Yau Ma Tei and Chai Wan in 1992 and 2000 for labour education and pastoral services in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. It extended its services to the New Territories in 2003 by setting up mobile centres to cater to the needs of workers in different districts there. In 2005, a centre serving labourers in the New Territories was established in Sheung Shui.
International Labour Day was celebrated by over 80 countries in memory of the Haymarket Affair in Chicago, the United States, in 1886, during which police used force to suppress American workers as they held a general strike for an eight-hour workday starting from May 1.
In 1889, the Second International, an organisation set up by representatives from 20 countries, passed a resolution during its Paris meeting for an international demonstration to be held the next year. The objective was to support the demands of the working class for the eight-hour workday. Now it is a day for worldwide gatherings for labour rights.
While this year the Hong Kong Police denied unions permission to organise traditional Labour Day rallies, claiming risks to public health, protesters still gathered at New Town Plaza, Sha Tin, and sang for the freedom of Hong Kong. They were later dispersed by the police with pepper spray, according to a report in the South China Morning Post on May 2.
In addition, a 15-year-old was arrested for throwing petrol bombs in Mong Kok on May 1 and three suspected homemade bombs were later found in an abandoned school.
