HONG Kong trade unionists threw their weight behind protesters demanding electoral reform today, calling for a general strike.

The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions attacked “the brutal suppression of protest by the Hong Kong government” and asked all working people to walk out from tomorrow.

Police in the autonomous city have attacked rallies demanding an open nomination process for the first-direct elections for its leader, planned in 2017, with tear gas and baton charges.

Since returning to Chinese rule in 1997 a colonial-era system giving wealthy businessmen huge power over Hong Kong politics has been retained under the “one country, two systems” policy.

“Workers have been demanding a fair election system to rectify the long-standing problem of business-oriented government,” the federation said.

“However, the ‘fake universal suffrage’ framework proposed by [China’s] National People’s Congress is merely old wine in a new bottle.”

Demonstrations in favour of scrapping a vetting process for election candidates continued to spread across the city yesterday.