From The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
LAST
BEE.
15
REF.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London S.W.1
19 March, 1971.
Hong Kong: Trade Union Legislation
I am sorry that I have not been able to reply sooner to your letter of 31 December about the Hong Kong Trade Union Registration (Amendment) Bill.
The meeting which took place between our respective officials on 5 January was, I understand, helpful in clearing up a number of points raised in your note on the trade union legislation in Hong Kong. I am sorry however that you should regard the important changes made in the draft Bill as being "subsidiary", since the amendments proposed deal with the major objections that were raised from a number of quarters against the Bill. I notice, however, that included in your note were criticisms of a number of aspects of Hong Kong trade union legislation which relate to the principal Ordinance - and not to the Bill currently under discussion; for example, the objections that are raised against the corporate status of trade unions; the lack of legal protection for unregistered combinations acting as a trade union for the purpose of a trade dispute; and the fines which can be imposed on a trade union for offences under the Ordinance. Your views on these matters will certainly be given the most careful consideration here and in Hong Kong, but since they raise fundamental questions on legislation which has been on the Statute Book for some years, I hope you will agree that it is hardly possible to delay the passage of the current much debated Bill while these questions are being studied.
Victor Feather, Esq., CBE.,
General Secretary,
Trades Union Congress.
Anthony Royle