London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Sep 09, 2025

Hong Kong protests: social workers rally in Central to rouse support for three-day strike

Activists take industrial action in bid to force Hong Kong government to meet demands of pro-democracy movement

About 200 social workers rallied in Central on Tuesday to urge Hongkongers to join a three-day strike over what they called a humanitarian crisis facing the city.

The activists gathered in Edinburgh Place in support of anti-government protesters and to condemn police’s handling of the demonstrations during six months of unrest.

A strike committee from the social welfare sector, which is made up of union members and concern groups, had organised for the industrial action to run from Tuesday to Thursday.

Patrick Lam, an occupational therapist and one of the strike’s organisers, encouraged people across different sectors to set up trade unions and hold demonstrations to hammer home protesters’ five demands, which include a judge-led inquiry into police conduct.

“The social welfare sector works for the people and we treasure the value of human beings,” Lam said.

“We really want to show the government and the world that we are very concerned about the escalating police violence and the tightening of basic personal freedoms.”

Away from the action in Central, regular lunchtime protests took place in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon Bay, Kwai Chung, Sha Tin and Tai Koo, with dozens gathering in each location.

Hong Kong has been gripped since June by anti-government protests, initially triggered by the now-withdrawn extradition bill. Violent clashes have escalated between protesters and police, resulting in more than 6,000 arrests, nearly 40 per cent of which involved students.

Khalio Fung, a social worker for young people who decided to join the strike in solidarity with the city’s youth, especially those injured or arrested in the protests, said a successful strike would show that the movement had not lost momentum.

However, he said it might not be enough to force the government to deliver concrete responses to protesters’ demands.

Tsang Koon-wing, who works with poor families and new immigrants with the Caritas Social Work Services Division, said social workers must “reach out to our communities and people from all walks of life to have a political dialogue”.

“We all have different political stances but we can all represent the demands from different socio-economic backgrounds to the government,” he added.

Before the rally, the Social Welfare Department contacted some community centres and NGOs asking how many social workers were expected to join the strike and whether day-to-day services would be affected.

Tsang, a social worker of 28 years, said that while he understood the department had to ensure basic services remained in place, he was concerned that monitoring from the government could pose a political risk for social workers.

At 1.15pm, another social worker, Tonica Wong, led those gathered at Edinburgh Place for a period of silence to unite with protesters and young people involved in violent clashes this year.

Police have repeatedly defended their response to the protests, saying they have used “minimum force” to clear protesters who have engaged in violence, vandalism and unlawful assembly.

During the ongoing protests, hard-core elements of the movement have vandalised and started fires at railway stations and universities, while also targeting businesses with links to mainland China and setting roadblocks on major thoroughfares.

Separately, the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, which operates 18 secondary schools, said on Tuesday that its schools had started to issue letters to parents this week reminding them to look after their children during the holidays and to prevent them from doing things which could “cause a nuisance or affect the interests of others”.

In a letter issued by one Tung Wah school, students were also urged not to “participate in illegal activities or any radical acts in uniform” during Christmas and the new year holidays, as it would “bring negative impact to themselves as well as their school”.

Last month, five students from one Tung Wah secondary school were penalised after they blocked train doors to disrupt public transport amid calls for a citywide strike.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Brand-New $1 Million Yacht Sinks Just Fifteen Minutes After Maiden Launch in Turkey
Here’s What the FBI Seized in John Bolton Raid — and the Legal Risks He Faces
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
×