CONFIDENTIAL
Staff Relations in the Public Service (see also paragraphs 36 and 37 of 1971 Report)
50. Conversations with representatives of the three senior staff associations indicate that the Senior Civil Service Staff Council is now operating more effectively. Inter-union differences on the Staff Side are less marked and should further improve if agreement can be reached on filling the key post of Staff Side Secretary. If this could be made a full-time paid post, as has been suggested informally by the Secretary for the Civil Service (the practice, incidentally, in the United Kingdom), this improved situation should be reinforced. Grievances of course remain, and a separate note about points raised with me by the Staff Association representatives has been sent to the Secretary for the Civil Service.
51. The question of forming a federation of Civil Service unions seems to be no longer a live issue since the departure of Mr Tsin, although he continues to persist in gadfly activities, including (I have discovered since my return to London) writing letters to the TUC which omit to mention that he is no longer an official of the HKCCSA. Mr Tsin has moreover applied for registration of an organisation known as the Hong Kong Staff Association Limited as a limited company under the Companies Ordinance. Among the manifold objects of this new 'association' is the purchase and renting of residential property; but the Registrar of Trade Unions sees it as a back door method of obtaining some legal base for Mr Tsin's old objective of a federation of civil service unions. Since he is no longer with the HKCCSA and appears to enjoy very limited support, this initiative is unlikely to be more than a nuisance.
The Trade Unions
52. The trade union movement in Hong Kong continues to be fragmented and divided and as a consequence has little influence on employment conditions. Industrial relations are calm and strikes are few and shortlived. (Man days lost per thousand in a year are around 43 compared with Japan 147 and UK 223).
53. The left wing unions organised within the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (HKFTU) have continued to attract members while the membership of the HKTUC and neutral unions has remained static. During the first six months of 1973, left wing unions gained about 17,000 new members while the HKTUC and friendly unions showed a small drop. Much of the HKFTU success undoubtedly arises from their superior welfare and social benefits - and a more dedicated and efficient leadership. At 31 March 1973 there were 280 trade unions registered, with a total declared membership of 251,729 (16% of the employed population).
54.
Two International Trade Secretariats (the International Textile Workers and the International Metal Workers) have representatives in Hong Kong for the purpose of bolstering up the local trade union movement and helping its organisation.
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CONFIDENTIAL
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