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Article 4
The principal organisation of rural workers registered under Trade Unions Ordinance is the Hong Kong Graziers Union with a declared membership of 12 625 as at 31 December 1990. Membership of this trade union is composed of self-employed farmers/graziers working on lands
working self-owned or leased from land owners and employed farmers/graziers including those working on farms as clerks, deliverymen, book-keepers and sundry workers.
The main farming producer associations are the vegetable marketing, pig raising and agricultural credit co-operative societies. As at 31 March 1991 there were 56 such societies with a total membership of 10 603. These societies provide credit and
and marketing facilities to members. The farming community is also served by 13 better living co-operative societies with a total membership of 1 138 as at 31 March 1991. They
They have
been classified as 'social' co-operatives in which the ' societies manage and maintain their own housing schemes or villages and
look after the welfare of members and their families.
Article 5
The Trade Unions Ordinance safeguards the healthy development of trade unions. It is government policy to encourage the formation and growth of sound and well-run trade unions.
The Co-operative Societies Ordinance facilitates the establishment and growth, on a voluntary basis, of co-operative societies with the object of promoting the economic interests of its members in accordance with co-operative principles. The Credit Unions Ordinance provides a legal framework
framework within which credit unions may operate as an agency of thrift and personal credit, channelling members' saving into productive and useful undertakings and providing a source of credit to members in time of need:
is government policy to consolidate the development of the co-operative and credit union movements, as instruments to improve the economic and social conditions of the community.
Article 6
Both the Labour Department and the Registry of Trade Unions participate actively in training courses, talks and seminars organised by employees' associations, educational and training institutions and voluntary agencies interested in labour/trade union matters. The Labour Department's Labour Relations Division is actively engaged in organising industrial relations workshops and seminars for both employers and workers. The Registry of Trade Unions also organises courses and seminars on such subjects as trade union management, book-keeping and auditing. Moreover, the Registry publishes leaflets on the rights and duties of a trade union member and the procedures for forming a trade union.