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have been made by the British and international trade union movements to stimulate the growth of trade unionism and collective bargaining in Hong Kong but without success. Some of the failure is attributed by the TUC to unnecessary restrictions in the Hong Kong Trade Union Ordinance on such matters as federation of unions and the employment of paid officials: but the Hong Kong Government have maintained that practice in these respects is more liberal than the letter of the law suggests. We suspect that deeper sociological, economic and political factors militating against normal growth and activities of a trade union movement are at work and a study is being commissioned to investigate matters further. The study will need to be low-profile and academic in character if we are to get the cooperation of industrialists in Hong Kong; and the person appointed to carry it out will need to be acceptable to both sides of industry here if it is to carry
conviction.
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SECRET
t
Pagerl 60 of 203
IMMEDIATE
YPHER/CAT A
Page 160 CONFIDENTIAL
RECCED IN
REGISTYS 20
FM HONG KONG 051145Z
- 21R 1976
RS 013/393/1
her 873