CONFIDENTIAL
* །།
AL
5
Most disputes are settled by the second method. Voluntary arbitration is possible under the Trade Disputes Ordinance but, since 1948, the only occasion when the machinery was used was in the Dairy Farm dispute in 1950. The machinery requires the voluntary agreement of both parties and it has been the experience of the Labour Department that disputes are soluble by voluntary, conciliation without recourse to voluntary arbitration.
3.
"
Li
The present effective machinery of solving disputes by voluntary conciliation has proved inadequate, in the last six months,
in a few disputes because of the new policy of left-wing unions
and left-wing workers to refuse to accept the intervention of the Labour Department through its conciliation officers. While all these disputes: have had a political flavour, most of thom had some industrial content. A possible solution is to introduce machinery for compulsory conciliation which, while not necessarily solving tho disputes, would force the parties concerned to face public condemnation if they refuse to use the machinery. The Commissioner of Labour is considering various methods in force in other territories for compulsory conciliation. He has requested expert assistance, possibly from the United Kingdom, in examining and advising on, conciliation procedures. The most effective method of solving disputes, that is, by direct negotiation, lies in the hands of management. The reluctance of workers to combine in effective trade unions is not likely to alter. The Labour Department's attempts over the past twenty years to stimulate healthy trade union development have failed.
The only real solution is to persuade management to have a more enlightoned approach to the problems of labour-nanagement relations. these lines, involving the Hong Kong Productivity Council, the Hong Kong Management Association, the Commerce and Industry Department, and the Labour Department, have already been drawn up.
5.
Plans along