OCCUPATIONS, WAGES AND LABOUR ORGANIZATION
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affiliated to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, but does not play an active part within that body.
Independent unions are few and mostly small in membership, and several of them are undecided as to where their interests should lie. Some of them, however, have made continuing efforts to improve their internal administration and the services offered by them to their members. The Teachers' Association was repre- sented in 1959 at the Annual Conference of the World Confedera- tion of Organizations of the Teaching Profession held in the United States of America.
During the year there was a steady expansion of the trade union education programme of the Labour Department. A short course of eight lectures on simple trade union accounts, organized by the Department in co-operation with the Hong Kong Technical College, was attended by persons from 20 workers' unions. An- other course on the same subject was in session at the end of the year. A course of lectures on various aspects of trade union administration, and two courses on labour legislation (the latter a new feature of the trade union education programme) were also organized during the year. Total attendance at these courses was 120 trade unionists.
A booklet entitled 'A Simple Guide to Trade Union Accounting' was published by the Labour Department at the beginning of this year. The booklet is in English and Chinese and is specially directed to local trade unions, particularly those which cannot afford to engage professional accountants. Copies of this booklet have been distributed, free of charge, to all registered trade unions.
Joint Consultation. Joint consultation is not widely practised in the Colony but there is evidence that an understanding of its value is slowly growing. Many employers, who understand and appreciate its purpose, are reluctant to experiment in this field while political interests dominate labour in Hong Kong. During the year officers of the Labour Department made about 90 visits to factories to explain to managements the advantages of joint consultation, and these were also stressed in press releases, talks, and radio broad- casts. These methods have succeeded in arousing general interest in joint consultation and the appointment of personnel managers. Labour Disputes. Freedom from serious industrial disputes, a noteworthy feature of the Colony's industrial life in the last few