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We are
coming to the honourable member's specific question - we are, as members of the LAB know, reviewing a broad range of labour market issues, some of which have been on the agenda in Hong Kong for very many years, some of which have probably been on the agenda for too long, for too many years. But we are trying to find ways of dealing with them in that tripartite way commended earlier by Mr Lau Chin-shek and certainly commended by the Governor and the Administration of Hong Kong. I don't think that it helps to see these issues in them versus us terms. I hope we can see them in a more co-operative spirit.
Mr Leung Yiu-chung (in Chinese): Mr Governor, well, I think it's just wishful thinking; people doubt about it. Yesterday in the debate, workers are only asking for their lawful entitlements but they are criticised by the business sector. I want to ask you the question: before 1997, in order to protect the well-being of workers and in order to avoid retrogression, will you pass laws to protect the status of unions so that unions can protect the well-being of workers? Say, can there be legislation for collective bargaining and also unfair dismissal so that the rights of the workers can be protected, so that workers can have equal footing with employers?
Governor: A moment or two ago the honourable member may have inadvertently missed my reply. We are reviewing a range of labour market issues at the moment, including some of those touched on by the honourable member, and I hope that we can find ways of addressing them which enjoy the support of employees and employers in the LAB however its relationship with this Legislative Council develops.
I say this to the honourable member. Unless we do find ways of tackling these issues co-operatively, those ways won't survive. If we want serious improvements in people's working conditions, if we want serious improvements in their terms of employment and so on, then those changes have to be made with support across the community, otherwise they are not going to survive into the indefinite future. That would make any efforts in the next year or so entirely nugatory, entirely abortive. So, I hope that we can proceed in a way which maximises co-operation rather than maximises confrontation.
End