Already, there are many developing countries, which are be- ginning to see Hong Kong as a model for economic development. This tendancy must be arrested if workers in different count- ries at different stages of development are not going to be set against each other.
While measures such as the Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD) Code on the conduct of multi- national companies, and the demand for the introduction of a social clause into the multi-fibre arrangement by the European textile and garment trade unions, are intended to check some of the abuses that take place in such countries as Hong Kong, these measures alone are likely to fall short of what is needed. Thus, it is in the spirit of international solidarity, as well as in their own respective self-interests, that the various International Trade Secretariats, together with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and their regional organisations in Asia, should consider extending assistance to Hong Kong's trade unions.
The need for trade union education has already been high- lighted. In the paper "Hong Kong: The Problem Colony" a suggestion was made that the ICFTU and the various International Trade Secretariats might explore whether they could help the Hong Kong trade unions to organise trade union training on an extensive basis. Such assistance has been offered to some countries before, and there is no obvious reason why it can- not be done in Hong Kong. The international trade union movement could also appoint a joint representative who would work in co-operation with the trade unions. The presence of such a representative would, no doubt, be helpful in the various tasks discussed earlier, especially in the estab- lishment of negotiating machinery, amalgamation of trade unions and the creation of effective trade union training.
Further, because of the presence of such a representative, the government might be more forthcoming when dealing with trade unions, and the representative might also be in a posi- tion to identify areas that need further international assistance.
Conclusion
Hong Kong is not a poverty-stricken under-developed country struggling towards industrialisation, rather it is a highly- developed industrialised state, providing rich rewards for commercial investors, many of them of international origin. Its workers are largely under-paid, under-represented and lacking the social safety net afforded to workers in most industrialised states.
It is a position that demands action, in the interests of Hong Kong workers themselves, and also in the interests of workers internationally, both in industrialised and develop- ing countries.
Continued/...