199 Hongkongers seek help after closure of ‘snow skin' mooncake inventor Taipan
About 200 employees of a 41-year-old Hong Kong bakery chain, known for its 'snow skin' mooncakes, have sought help after the firm's abrupt closure, a trade union has said, with debts snowballing to more than HK$38 million (US$4.8 million).
The Hotels, Food and Beverage Employees Association said on Wednesday that workers at Taipan Bread & Cakes had already anticipated a possible closure because the company had not recruited more employees for producing and packaging mooncakes in mid-June, when sales usually started, adding the number of affected staff members was expected to increase.
'Many staff members had worked there for a long time. They hoped the company was just handling cash flow issues, so they stayed to observe,' Nerine Yip Lau-ching, the association's general secretary, told a radio programme.
According to Yip, the bakery chain had stopped paying wages since May and staff's Mandatory Provident Fund for one to two months. But some workers opted to stay and see if the company would resolve its financing problems.
Taipan earned its reputation with the creation of snow skin, or snowy, mooncakes in 1989. Photo: Handout
As of Tuesday, the association has offered help to 199 staff members, mostly factory workers. The amount of money owed has grown to more than HK$38 million, involving mostly unpaid wages, payment in lieu of notice, severance and long service payments.
But Yip said she expected the local food industry to be able to absorb the workers from Taipan and revealed that a major bakery factory on Tuesday had expressed wishes to recruit the affected staff.
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