13.
Mr Hargreaves referred to the value of recent discussions on Hong Kong between TUC representatives and the Secretary of State and Lord Goronwy-Roberts. In addition to the industrial situation, the TUC was aware of the political factors. Efforts should be made in Hong Kong, as elsewhere, to involve the working people in the taking of decisions which affect their lives. There was no trade union representation in the higher councils of the Hong Kong Government. Difficulties in the way of finding suitable persons were acknowledged, as were the problems associated with that part of the trade union movement which looked for leadership to the communist mainland.
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Nevertheless, there existed other trade unions which were important and which do enter into negotiations, as for example, the Civil Service unions. Four International Trade Secretariats (the IMF ITF, PSI and ITLGW) had tried to help, but with limited success in the key task of "bringing the unions to the negotiating table" A step toward this would be the establishment by legislation of Industrial Wage Boards. The TUC would not normally support this kind of development but in Hong Kong they would wish to see it considered in view of the opportunities afforded by such Boards for giving trade unionists experience in the art of discussing terms and conditions of employment at a national or industrial level, as distinct from factory level. Those unions with communist affilia- tions would doubtless decline to participate; for the others the boards would help to develop a valuable function for the unions and give them a positive public role. Apart from this there remained other peripheral legal problems arising from the trade union legislation, such as the attitude of the Registrar of Trade Unions towards the formation of a federation of civil service unions.
14. Mr Coates hoped that the Chairman, during his visit to Hong Kong, would meet employers' organisations. These consisted in the main of employers of Chinese extraction, mostly very small in terms of numbers employed, and so not usually amenable to organisation on the lines of the British model. Nevertheless, many employers had wished to be more progressive and were trying, for example, to encourage joint consultation.
He had met the Secretary of the Hong Kong Employers' Federation whilst in Jakarta and had been impressed by the latter's reference to the degree of individual freedom enjoyed in Hong Kong which was not always found in other countries in the Far East. Workers in Hong Kong were not exploited, and had a reasonable standard of living in a setting of full employment. Government had a duty to legislate in the interests of lower paid workers but the situation needed to evolve in its own setting.
15. The Chairman referred to the over-riding political and constitutional problems. Compared with other colonial territories, there can be no constitutional progress towards self-government for Hong Kong because the Government of the Chinese People's Republic regard Hong Kong as an integral part of China temporarily controlled by Britain and expect the constitutional status quo in Hong Kong to
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