J
:
that legislatin dealing with strikes and lock-outs in essential industries should become part of your permanent legislation. But I could not, as at present advised, accept that this should be done without at the same time making specific countervailing provision for the settlement of any disputes which might arise in the trades or industries to which the Ordinance would apply.
6. The measures which I have in mind 'in this connection would be:
(a) a provision (as contained in paragraph 1(1) of the
model legislation) for the conditions under which a collective withdrawal of labour from an essential service could be effected (it is appreciated that in circumstances, as they exist in Hong Kong, those provisions in the model legislation which prescribe a uniform period of notice might have to be varied); (b) a general provision on the lines of paragraphs 1
(4-6) of the model legislation requiring employers to post notices in all working premises giving the text of the main provisions of the Ordinance; (c) the establishment of machinery, appropriate to
conditions in Hong Kong, for the settlement of trades disputes in essential services (c.f. last two sentences of paragraph 3 above).
7. I would therefore ask you to re-consider the proposed amendments to the Illegal Strikes and Lock-outs Ordinance in the light of the foregoing comments.
8.
I am in any case advised that the amending legislation as drafted has certain imperfections which call for further examination.
(a) Section 3(5). The insertion of the words "take part
in" in line 2 of this subsection would seem to have little or no practical effect in relation to a strike in view of the proviso to this subsection.
(b) New Section 3A. As at present worded, the powers of
the Governor in Council seem to be confined to strikes which have already started, and do not extend to dealing with threatened strikes. In the absence of
workers the notices referred to at paragraph 3 above, would not be aware in many cases until already on strike that their action was illegal. Moreover where acts are done inciting or instigating a strike before the strike is declared by the Governor in
· Council to be illegal, it would not be sufficient for the purposes of a prosecution in respect of those acts merely to show that the Governor in Council had subsequently declared the strike illegal.
It would,
I am advised, be necessary to establish that the strike was illegal under Section 3(1).