TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 1985
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HK COMPARES WELL IN LABOUR MATTERS
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OUR COMPLIANCE WITH INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS IN LABOUR MATTERS WAS ONE OF THE BEST POSSIBLE DEFENCES IN THE FACE OF
INCREASING PROTECTIONISM AND ALLEGATIONS OF UNFAIR COMPETITION. THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER FOR LABOUR, MR DARWIN CHEN, SAID TODAY (TUESDAY).
+AS AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE INTERNATIONAL TRADING FRATERNITY, HONG KONG HAS TO LIVE UP TO THE EXPECTATIONS OF OTHER MEMBERS IN THE AREA OF LABOUR LEGISLATION, HE SAID.
SPEAKING AT A LUNCH MEETING OF THE ROTARY CLUB OF PENINSULA, MR CHEN SAID HONG KONG COMPARED FAVOURABLY WITH ITS NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES IN THE APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL LABOUR CONVENTIONS.
HE SAID HONG KONG HAD UP TO NOW APPLIED 49 CONVENTIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION, 30 IN FULL AND 19 WITH MODIFICATIONS- JAPAN HAD APPLIED 37 AND SINGAPORE 21, WHILE TAIWAN AND SOUTH KOREA WERE NOT MEMBERS OF THE ILO.
+ALTHOUGH SIMPLE NUMERICAL COMPARISON IS BY ITSELF PERHAPS NOT SIGNIFICANT, WE CAN NEVERTHELESS ASSURE OUR TRADING PARTNERS THAT OUR EFFORTS IN RECENT YEARS ARE WELL IN LINE WITH OUR POLICY, + MR CHEN SAID.
THE POLICY, STATED BY THE FORMER GOVERNOR AT THE OPENING SESSION OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL IN 1976, WAS THAT HONG KONG SHOULD ACHIEVE A LEVEL OF LABOUR LEGISLATION GOVERNING SAFETY AND HEALTH IN WORK AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT AT LEAST BROADLY EQUIVALENT TO THE BEST IN OUR NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES WHOSE STAGES OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL AND CULTURAL BACKGROUNDS WERE SIMILAR TO OUR OWN, HE SAID.
MR CHEN SAID THAT HONG KONG HAD COME A LONG WAY SINCE THIS POLICY WAS STATED AND, AS MIGHT BE SEEN BY THE COMPARISON ON THE APPLICATION OF ILO CONVENTIONS WITH OUR NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES, WE WERE APPROACHING THE TARGET THAT WE HAD SET FOR OURSELVES.
ON LABOUR MATTERS, HONG KONG HAD ALSO APPLIED THE RELEVANT ARTICLES OF THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS AND THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS, HE SAID. THESE COVENANTS AS APPLIED TO HONG KONG WILL REMAIN IN FORCE AFTER 1997. AS STATED IN SECTION XIII OF ANNEX 1 OF THE SINO-BRITISH DECLARATION ON THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG.
THESE INCLUDED THE RIGHT TO WORK, THE RIGHT TO THE ENJOYMENT OF JUST AND FAVOURABLE CONDITIONS OF WORK, THE RIGHT TO FORM AND JOIN TRADE UNIONS, AND THE PROTECTION OF WORKING MOTHERS, CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS.
THE LABOUR DEPARTMENT PROVIDED VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE TO YOUNG PEOPLE, HELPED JOB-SEEKERS OBTAIN EMPLOYMENT AND ENFORCED THE VARIOUS LEGISLATION WHICH PROTECTED WORKERS. SUCH AS THE EMPLOYMENT ORDINANCE AND THE FACTORIES AND INDUSTRIAL UNDERTAKINGS ORDINANCE, MR CHEN SAID.
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