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In 'Hong Kong 1977' the government reported the existence of 311 registered employees' trade unions in 1976, with :* an estimated membership of 362,600.
Overall union structure in the Colony is fragmented. There are two distinct trade union centres, one leaning towards Peking, the other being pro-Taiwan. In addition,
a whole series of individual unions exist on what is
described as a 'neutral' basis. In Hong Kong 1977' the government say that, "Due to political differences the number of unions has grown beyond practical needs, and divergent loyalties have prevented those with common interests from amalgamating into effective organisations."
However, the indications are that in recent years the
growth in the number of trade unions has been more wide- spread in the public services where the unions tend to be
neutral. Thus, while ideological conflict among trade
unions has obviously contributed to the relative weakness
of the trade union movement, it is also true that there
are other contributory factors.
It is well known that for some years the fear of being branded as troublemakers and the risk of being deported
back to China as a result have made many workers wary of joining a trade union. Another significant factor in trade union weakness was that, until recently, trade unions were, by law, unable to employ full-time organisers.
When these factors are taken into account, together with the fact that employers have generally been hostile to trade unions, and in view of the long hours worked in Hong Kong industry, it is not surprising that lay officials found it nearly impossible to service a large multi-plant membership. The inevitable result was a proliferation of small in-plant unions, whose leaders had little time for contact with their colleagues in similar plants.
It is thus hardly surprising that under conditions such as these, there should be, by the beginning of 1975, 160 trade unions representing just over half of all registered trade unions with a membership of 250 or less.
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