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CONFIDENTIAL
2.
LABOUR AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS
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Labour Affairs
1. 1974 was a year of considerable progress in the enactment of labour legislation in Hong Kong. The only major piece of labour legislation currently in the pipeline is the Labour Relations Bill. The purpose of this bill is the improvement of labour-management relations and establishment of a legal framework for dealing with serious labour disputes. The bill was published on 21 March to enable the public to comment. So far opinions voiced in the Hong Kong Press have been fairly low key, and in general the bill has been welcomed. One or two commentators have questioned the need to introduce this legislation when labour relations in the colony are relatively tranquil; but others have pointed out that for this very reason this is an opportune moment for a careful and objective examination of the issues involved. The only provision in the bill that is at all controversial is a clause empowering the Governor in Council to intervene in labour disputes if arbitration
has failed and order a cooling off period of 30 days which can be
extended to a maximum of 60 days. There has been some comment
that this measure will restrict the rights of the workers and
that it could lead to a direct confrontation between the Governor
and the workers. Our own T.U.C. has asked to see a copy of this
bill.
2.
Lord Goronwy-Roberts may wish to take this opportunity to raise the question of social security in Hong Kong with the Governor. There is at present no contributory social security scheme in Hong Kong and the whole of the cost of social welfare and public assistance benefits is met by the Government's recurrent budget. Given the pressures on the Government's social programme, the possibility of any substantial improvement on the present basis is very limited. The Overseas Labour Adviser has suggested that a "National Provident Fund" type of scheme, similar to that operating successfully in Singapore, might be set up in Hong Kong. This would not place any financial burden on the Government (other than as a contributory employer) and would in fact raise funds for local development. Dr Chung suggested in the LegCo budget debate on 19 March that the setting up of a
/compulsory
CONFIDENTIAL