Home Periscope December 2017 - Labour Pains December 2017 – Labour Pains PeriscopeDecember 2017 - Labour PainsIssue 146 December 2017 – Labour Pains December 1, 2017 Share on Facebook Tweet on Twitter tweet The December 2017 issue of Periscope looks at Hong Kong workers and their working conditions: The number of industrial accidents overall has dropped in Hong Kong in recent years, but the same can’t be said for the number of deaths and serious accidents in the construction industry. And unions say the official figures don’t reflect the reality because some employers hide accidents to avoid compensation claims Hong Kong has transitioned from a manufacturing-based economy to a service-oriented one, yet many regulations on workplace safety and occupational diseases don’t adequately address the health issues facing workers in the service industries Across the world, the nature of work is changing – with companies hiring freelancers, part-timers and casual workers instead of permanent employees. The so-called gig economy may promise freedom and flexibility but freelancers are increasingly seeing the flip-side of this way of working, some are beginning to organise and unionise RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR Labour Pains – Editor’s Note The Hidden Cost of Building a World City Chronically Overlooked