Mr. Carter
Reference.
will
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The paper produced by the Colonial Secretariat in Hong Kong about ineligible trade union officials suggests to me that the real problem is the union structure in Hong Kong and I wonder if there is any way of altering this. As I see it Unions tend to relate to a particular firm. Thus, we have the Government Water Works Union, the Hong Kong and China Gas Company Union, the Green Island Cement Company Union and so on. The reason why so many officials are "ineligible" is that they no longer work for that particular firm. So far as I know trade unions in this country are organised on a totally different basis, viz. by trades, thus a firm like the Green Island Cement Company might include workers who were members of an engineering union and one which represented ordinary labour.
2.
I dare say it is not possible at this stage to reorganise the whole system of trade unions in Hong Kong, but it does seem to me that if something more like the British system were in existence we would not have the particular problem with which we are
I wonder faced in pursuing ineligible officials. whether this is a subject which is worth pursuing with the Governor or in correspondence with the Colonial Secretary. I should be grateful if you would consult the Labour Adviser about this question. So long as the present system obtains it looks as though we shall go on having trouble with the Chinese if we go on pursuing ineligible office holders. What I would like to see is whether we cannot, by redrawing the trade union structure, somehow remove this irritant from relations,
MW.
(K.M. Wilford) 13 November, 1969
Mr.
ford o.f.
I am sorry to have delayed this: but I feel very uneasy about pursuing it along the lines you have suggested.
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On
There is the usual Hong Kong dilemma here. the one hand we want to see a responsible, well- organised and effective trade union movement in Hong Kong, pursuing the industrial interests of its members. On the other hand, because of the strong communist position in the movement as it exists today there is advantage in preserving its fragmented and politically divided state; it would of course be a matter for serious concern if efforts to amalgamate existing unions led to the submergenceof non-communist unions in larger concerns under effective communist control.
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