Hong Kong dockers strike -- US speaking tour

In the spring of 2013, a 40 day strike by 500 dockworkers at the Hong Kong Port aroused massive support in Hong Kong society and throughout the world. The target was one of the world's richest and most powerful men - oligarch Li Kai-shing.

The Hong Kong dockworkers, suffering years of frozen wages and inhumane conditions, divided by a subcontracting system meant to deflect labor unity, with no legal access to collective bargaining, in heart of the global capital's leading city... struggled and prevailed, giving us a clear view of the power of workers against not merely one boss, but a system that is generating inequality everywhere it spreads. Their tenacity, militancy and ultimate victory provides a moment of inspiration for citizens and workers universally.

Speakers:

Stephan Chan is a rank & file dockworker, employed as a sub-contracted checker in the Kwai Tung terminal. He helped to organize the Union of Hong Kong Dockers (UHKD) in 2005 and served as its first chairperson. He remains one of the core leaders of the union and played a vital role during the April 2013 strike.

Loy Wong is an organizing secretary of Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU), with more than 12 years of experience in the trade union. He leads the organizing and support work for unions in the transportation and logistics sector, including the Union of Hong Kong Dockworkers.

Other stops on the US speaking tour are Chicago (for the Labor Notes Confernce), Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle .

China & Hong Kong labor reading group put together by comrades in Seattle: http://hkstrikes.wordpress.com/2014/02/28/china-hong-kong-labor-reading-group/

The San Francisco leg of the U.S. speaking tour is co-sponsored by the Empire-Logistics/Global Supply Chains study/research group of the San Francisco Public School (http://thepublicschool.org/node/37009).