From Unorganized Street Protests to Organizing Unions

Details: Published on Friday, 07 August 2020 00:50; Written by editor

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A Socialist Project e-bulletin ... No. 2164 ... August 7, 2020
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From Unorganized Street Protests to Organizing Unions:
The Birth of a New Trade Union Movement in Hong Kong

Anita Chan

For several months in 2019, the world’s news media was front-paging the Hong Kong anti-extradition bill movement almost on a daily basis. However, toward the end of the year, with the street violence subsiding and the fierce battles at two universities ending in the defeat of the students and their supporters, the international media seemed to lose interest.

As global attention shifted elsewhere, one might have assumed that the movement had died a natural death. It did not. It is from here that this essay picks up the narrative. It was at that point that the movement branched off in a new direction, with activists beginning to set up trade unions and transitioning toward a nascent organized movement.

In the wake of the Umbrella Movement, which ended in 2015, a whole host of small groups and political parties of varied political persuasions emerged alongside the ‘old’ pro-democratic political parties. This mushrooming led to... competition and fragmentation, which, in turn, undermined the effectiveness of political activity.