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9. The left wing unions (FTU) are docile because of the influence of Peking, and union membership is based on pride in Chinese achievement and insurance against the future, and unions are essentially a vehicle for national rather than class identity. right wing unions (CTU) are senescent. Even the "neutral" unions, i.e. the Civil Service unions, are mainly concerned with social activities and the Labour Department has therefore been forced to assume some of the functions which are accepted in the West as normal to trade unions. Professor Turner shows that the Labour Department has become increasingly involved in protecting employee interests.
Some Conclusions
10.
In paragraphs 73-81 Professor Turner draws his conclusions. He sees no reason why an effective labour movement should not have arisen and asks whether anything at all should be done. He produces reasons why he thinks something should be done to make the labour movement more effective but these reasons are not to my mind valid. Thus, he suggests as a reason the fact that the FTU has enormous potential influence and implies that if there were an ideological crisis in Peking this could overflow into disturbance in Hong Kong, but he does not show how or why the FTU would be involved in these disturbances nor how an effective labour movement could prevent them. He then says that a bad recession could set off an alternative radical labour and political movement which could produce a crisis, but he does not show how the development of trade unions would prevent this. It could be argued that on present Hong Kong form it would take years for a trade union movement to have sufficient authority with the workers, let alone with the administration. The third reason adduced is that an industrial economy like Hong Kong is highly vulnerable to international criticism and its contrast of poverty with wealth. This is true, as we know from the number of MPs' letters and PQs, but it is not an argument for trade unions. The government could, by taxation, ensure a more equitable distribution of wealth.
The fourth argument is that social progress in Hong Kong is slow and could presumably be accelerated if there were a strong trade union movement to goad government. Here again the goad can be applied by HMG and possibly more effectively. Fifth, Professor Turner states that strong trade unions would help to eradicate pockets of inefficiency which survive because of cheap immobile labour. This is not necessarily true. Indeed, some people argue in the UK context that pockets of inefficiency remain in the UK because of trade unions, e.g. demarcation disputes.
11. Professor Turner points out (paragraph 74) that on the evidence of Dr Fosh's survey there would be very wide support for (a) a Social Security scheme linked with the acquisition of accommodation rights; (b) a reform of the education system. Both these aims can be achieved by legislation and administrative action.
The
12. On the question of industrial relations in the narrower sense, Professor Turner points out that the problem is difficult. surveys showed that there is clear evidence of a need for change but the dilemma is that the present trade unions cannot fulfil the need. He rightly points out that there are political difficulties involved in inaugurating a new "neutral" trade movement in the
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