The resolution also asked the General Council to seek to extend various ILO conventions to Hong Kong, particularly by the full ratification of Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, and of Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organise and Bargain Collectively.
The resolution was brought to the attention of the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary, the Labour Party, the Hong Kong and Kowloon Trades Union Council, and the ICFTU.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary wrote in October that he was hopeful that the Government would have some useful progress to report to the Overseas Labour Consultative Committee which was to meet at the request of the TUC, and he pointed out that legislation to deal with anti-union discrimination already existed in Hong Kong, and that the way was clear for the full application of International Labour Convention No. 98. The Labour Party stated that they would keep the General Council informed of intended action, and the ICFTU stated that the view expressed in the reso- lution would be fully taken into consideration in formulating ICFTU attitudes, and expressed their gratitude to the TUC for adopting a resolution which in large measure met a wish expressed by the Executive Board.
It was reported to Congress in 1974 that in July the General Council had considered the labour and trade union situation in Hong Kong and that they had decided to raise within the Overseas Labour Consultative Committee matters which concerned the Government of Hong Kong, and consequently the British Government, together with those which related to the attitudes of employers in Hong Kong, particularly with a view to securing a greater measure of consultation in Britain and in Hong Kong on legislative and administrative issues.
A representative of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office told the OLCC in December that important new measures had been enacted in Hong Kong during 1974, one providing protection against anti-union discrimination which was likely to make possible the full application of ILO Convention No. 98, and another requiring employers to pay a severance allowance for employees made redundant. It was also hoped that the legal maximum for hours of overtime for women and children would soon be reduced, that the Illegal Strikes and Lockouts Ordinance would be repealed, and that an Industrial Relations Ordinance would be introduced which would give statutory backing to the Hong Kong Labour Department and provide for voluntary arbitration.
It was stated on behalf of the TUC that efforts should be made to involve working people in the administration of the Colony, to encourage trade unions to take a more active role, and to encourage those trade unions which did negotiate collective agreements. For example, the establishment of Wage Boards in some industries could provide unions with opportunities now absent for public activity in determining wage levels.
The Parliamentary Under Secretary, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said that the Government were anxious to achieve social progress to the maximum extent compatible with local and international factors, an over-riding problem in Hong Kong being that the constitutional position did not allow ordinary progress towards self-government, and that he would in the near future seek to consult as many groups as possible in Hong Kong on the issues raised and would inform the Committee of his findings.
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