Six years ago today, some 350,000 Hongkongers wrote a defining chapter in the city’s labour movement. Defying pressure and political risk, they responded to an online call for a “Three Strikes” action on 5 August 2019, staging rallies across seven districts and launching strikes in multiple industries. The result was the largest political strike Hong Kong had seen in half a century. Whether they chose to remain in the city or have since left, many participants recall the day as a turning point — a shared experience etched into their identity, fuelling a continued sense of connection and commitment.
On 5 August 2019, strike assemblies erupted simultaneously in Admiralty, Sha Tin, Mong Kok, Tuen Mun, Tsuen Wan, Tai Po and Wong Tai Sin. The actions spanned aviation, education, IT, social services, the arts, accountancy and more. In aviation alone, around 3,000 workers took part, including air traffic controllers from the Civil Aviation Department. More than 200 flights were cancelled as a result.
Unlike traditional strikes triggered by disputes over wages or working conditions, the 8.5 strike was a political action, aiming squarely at the government and its unpopular policies. On the eve of the action, the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) declared that young protesters should not be left to “sacrifice and be arrested” alone, insisting that workers had to wield their strongest weapon — the strike — to stand with them against authoritarianism.
The strike proved to be a catalyst for political awakening among many employees, sparking a new union movement. Thousands of applications for new trade unions were lodged in the months that followed, covering industries from the professions to white-collar sectors. The “Two Million Three Strikes Joint Alliance” emerged, raising the banner of “Unions Against Tyranny” during the 2020 New Year’s Day march, laying the groundwork for a union front within the broader movement.
That momentum was abruptly checked by the outbreak of Covid-19 and the imposition of the National Security Law, which forced the nascent wave of independent unions to halt. Yet, as former HKCTU chairperson Joe Wong remarked at an exhibition in 2021: “As long as there are workers, there will be a labour movement. Sand does not fear the wind — one day it will gather again.”
Recent events suggest that spirit persists. At Hong Kong Baptist University, cleaners united earlier this year to resist new outsourcing arrangements, ultimately winning concessions including pay rises, the scrapping of probation periods, the restoration of overtime pay, and improved terms for casual workers. Despite intimidation and pressure, the workers stood firm. One remarked with a smile: “We went wild together once eight years ago, and who’d have thought we’d be rebellious together again?”
That same grit and humour encapsulated the essence of the 8.5 general strike: solidarity, persistence, and an unyielding commitment to justice.
The strike was never merely a one-day spectacle. It remains a living memory, a flame carried between workers, rekindled wherever people stand together. However hostile the circumstances, as long as there are workers ready to step forward, the spirit of 8.5 has never been extinguished.