CONFIDENTIAL
- 5-
XCC(70)62
TRADE UNION REGISTRATION (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS 1971
21
The Trade Union Registration (Amendment) Regulations 1971 propose some minor changes to the subsidiary legislation made under the Ordinance.
22
Regulations 5 and 10 require a trade union to send to the Registrar for registration three copies of the original rules or wholly new rules respectively. Two copies have been found sufficient and amending regulations 2 and 3 accordingly reduce the required number from three to two.
23
Regulation 14 requires that the accounts of a trade union presented to the Registrar shall include the accounts of any branch. Amend- ing regulation 4 alters regulation 14 to require the accounts to include those of every branch or charitable, cultural, educational, or medical undertaking operated by or in the name of a trade union in order that the Registrar may be made fully aware of all the financial transactions of the trade union. Amending regulation 5 alters regulation 17 to make it an offence to fail to include this additional information in the accounts.
GENERAL
24
The amending bill and regulations have been in preparation for some years. Preliminary drafts were sent to the Secretary of State in 1969 for his advance information. In the light of his comments, some changes were made to the bill and his concurrence to the amended version was received in July 1970. In August 1970, the Commissioner of Labour arranged for the wide circulation of the draft bill and regulations, to give trade union officials and members an opportunity of commenting on proposals which would directly affect them.
25
No comments of any sort have been received on the draft Trade Union Registration (Amendment) Regulations 1971, which were unanimously approved by the Labour Advisory Board,
26
A fair amount of publicity was originally given in the press about a few clauses in the draft bill, although only a small number of written representations has been received by the Commissioner of Labour. The only registered trade union of employees to comment in writing was the Hong Kong Chinese Civil Servant's Association. Most of the criticism was concentrated on the following proposals:
(a)
(b)
the introduction of a new procedure to simplify the registration of temporary trade unions;
the inclusion of a new offence of intimidation when
a person blocks or causes an obstruction in any street or road;
CONFIDENTIAL