Hong Kong ‘blue-collar artist’ Luke Ching calls for ‘new employment relationship’
After being sacked by McDonald’s, labour rights activist tells Post there must be more ‘sensible’ discussions on working-class employment
Over the past decade, Hong Kong artist Luke Ching Chin-wai has worked as a convenience store staff member, a shelf stocker in chain supermarkets and a contract janitor at a railway station, while advocating for labour rights with his first-hand experience.
The 53-year-old came under the spotlight again earlier this month when he was sacked by McDonald’s after documenting his work experience as a janitor there and calling for the fast food chain to restore mealtime pay for its frontline workers.
Ching told the Post in an interview on Wednesday that he would press on with his “blue-collar journey” despite the recent dismissal, and called on employers to be more open-minded about fostering improvements in society as he recounted his decade-long advocacy over a dozen working class jobs.
The artist said he joined the McDonald’s outlet in Fortune Plaza Arcade in Tai Po last July as a part-time janitor as he was fascinated by the “community restaurant” that attracted all walks of life and accommodated “McRefugees”, referring to those who spent the night in the chain’s 24-hour branches.
But his job did not last long as he was dismissed at the end of January, a week after he wrote an open letter to CEO Randy Lai Wai-sze to decry the low wages and suggest a resumption of mealtime pay for employees, which the company ceased in 2009.
While Ching attributed the termination to his criticism, McDonald’s Hong Kong said, without naming the artist, that he had been sacked for violating policies by sharing internal operational and commercial information on public platforms throughout his six-month employment.
