張國柱

English

Peter Cheung Kwok-che, born in 1951 and widely known as 'Ah Chu of the Social Workers' General Union', is a Hong Kong registered social worker and former legislator. He graduated from King's College in 1971 and from the Social Work Training Institute, the predecessor of the social work department at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, in 1975. He went on to a long career in social service, serving as a centre director for Caritas Hong Kong, and has been president of the Hong Kong Social Workers' General Union since 1998, representing the profession in pressing for better pay and professional standards and raising concerns about staff shortages and tight resources. He is a member of the Hong Kong pro-democracy camp, having earlier been treasurer of the executive committee of the Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood and moving to the Labour Party after 2010, where he chaired its disciplinary committee. As regards the legislature, he was elected in 2008 for the social welfare functional constituency, defeating Tik Chi-yuen by 5,334 votes to 2,743, and was re-elected in 2012, defeating Chan Yee-fei by 9,078 votes, serving until 2016, after which he did not seek another term. In the council he followed labour rights, social welfare and social service planning, speaking on issues such as how a government reorganisation of social work staffing might affect posts and services. After leaving the council he continued to work in social service organisations and the union, following the development of the social work profession, staff rights and the needs of disadvantaged groups, and remains well known in the sector as 'Ah Chu of the Social Workers' General Union'.