21.
Trade Union Ordinance appears to effectively preclude federation of civil
service unions by requiring that members of all component unions be
employed in the same industry, trade or occupation. The Registrar of
Trade Unions rejected a proposed federation of the Hong Kong CCSA and
ten other unions in 1972 on these grounds. Again, in 1975, sixteen
unions, including many involved in the 1972 attempt, tried unsuccessfully
to amalgamate. The Pre Amalgamation Co-ordinating Team established by
these unions survives as an informal body. It contains generally those
unions most willing to openly confront the government or push for open
negotiations.
The legal toleration and even encouragement of union fragmentation may
be connected with a not yet extinct colonial labour policy which viewed
large labour organisations as a political threat. B.C. Roberts has
written about the general attitude of British Colonial administration on
this question:
...
"There has been a tendency... for those in authority to view the growth
of large unions and general federations with suspicion. Official opinion
has been-influenced by the fear that large unions and federations are
more likely to be concerned with political activities than are small
organisations based upon the unit of employment, or the industry" (19)
Such consideration may have continued relevance for Hong Kong, where the
colonial regime is dependent for its survival on the consent of the
Chinese business community whose central concern is the stability of the
Colony and economy (20).
(19) Roberts, B.C., 'Labour in the Tropical Territories of the
Commonwealth', Bell & Sons Ltd., 1964 pp. 300-1. Quoted in England J & Rear J, op.cit.
(20)
See Miners N.J., 'The Government & Politics of Hong Kong' OUP, 1975, for a detailed discussion of this point.