As from 1 Nov.- Tel No. 233.3215 (direct)
JA Hargreaves Esq Trades Union Congress Congress House
Gt Russell Street
London WC1B 3LS
9
31
28 October 1975
23
LIXX 5/28
You wrote to me on 6 October asking for information about the Office Employees Union in Hong Kong. We have now had a reply from the Commissioner for Labour, Hong Kong, who confirms that this organisation is indeed the same Office Employees Union first registered in 1970 under Registration No.461. It caters for persons employed in any capacity, other than managerial, in offices. Apart from a declared intention to interest itself in industrial relations matters, the union aims to encourage its members to join the credit union movement.
The registered office of the union is the same as that of the premises of the Industrial Relations Institute (IRI), a locally registered society and the liaison office in Hong Kong for the World Confederation of Labour. The IRI was the prime mover behind the formation of the union in 1970. It is understood that the union has been allowed to share the premises on a rent free basis. The Chairman of the IRI is one Fr. McGovern, the Jesuit priest.
The union has undertaken very few activities. It has never been on a firm footing since its inception: indifference as well as inefficiency on the part of the committee almost brought the union to the point of collapse in 1973. Though subsequently it rallied slightly, its general and financial administration showed no improvement.
The declared membership of the union was 15 at the end of 1974 while the estimated paid-up membership was 10. If the current membership position is as stated to the TUC, then the union can hardly exist legally.
The Chairman of the union, Mr LUNG Chun-kei (in Chinese custom, the family name precedes the personal name) is in fact the General Secretary of the IRI and a protégé of Fr. McGovern. The IRI itself runs a series of training courses on workers' education, and in this respect the Labour Department assiets, as it would other bona fide organisations, by providing lectures free of charge to explain the provisions of labour and factory legislation.
blind copy
Mr Wotton HKIOD
G Foggon
Cnker & p.ad.
pd
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