in 1971, the hong kong government suggested unpegging the salaries of the certificated masters to the nurses to cut their salaries by 15 per cent which sparked an uproar among the teachers. szeto wah was actively involved in the opposition campaign and the founding of the hong kong professional teachers' union (hkptu) in 1972 as the founding vice-chairman under tsin sai-nin. in april 1973, szeto wah took a leading role in two waves of labour strikes. after the strikes, the teachers negotiated with government representative jack cater with bishop francis hsu as the meditator. as a result, the teachers cancelled the third labour strike and began the negotiation process with the government. the government eventually backed down on the plan, but installed a "3-2-2" standard which raised the salaries of the certificated masters after their salary points had reached the highest levels in three, two and two years.