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IV
TR.DE UNIONS
67.
67.
The Trade Union and Trade Disputes Ordinance. 1948 came into operation on 1st April 1948. Before that date there was a substantial number of workers and employers organisations, some of them being guilds. The Ordinance gave all those organisations which could satisfy the requirements of the enactment a definite legal status and certainly encouraged the formation of many new organisations of a trade union character.
19
68 Int There were, on 1st January 1951, 0 workers' trade unions, 4 guilds and 72: employers associations officially registered (see Appendix 2). There were also two so-called "Federations of Trade Unions", viz The Hong Kɔng Federation of Trade Unions and the Hong Kong and Kowloon Trades Union Council. Neither of these organisati ɔns has been registered under the Trade Union and Trade Disputes Ordinance but both are registered under the Societies Ordinance.
69.
Some of the 29 workers' unions are clearly industrial
unions; some craft unions and a few are company unions. There is clear evidence that some of these unions are supported, at least in "Part, by contributions from employers. There are also, no doubt,
triad societies masquerading as trade unions.
70.
Entrance fees are almost universal and range from ɔne to
some
a hundred dollars. In one or two instances the entrance fee is based on a proportion of earnings. Most of the workers' unions appear to charge one dollar for the union badge and a further dollar for the certificate of membership; one union charges as much as three dollars.
.
71.
Union subscriptions vary appreciably and there is quite a number of unions with no fixed contribution In some cases subscriptions are based on earnings. It is by no means unusual for unions to get further income from the employers in the trade or industry concerned. In the Cattle Trade Employcos' Union this amounts to 30 cents for every picce of meat leaving the refrigerator, and the Flour, Noodles & Cooked Rice Shop Workers' Union and the Eating Shop Employees' Union have an arrangement whereby they receive the proceeds of the sale of all sauces and pickles and as much as 2% of sales of foodstuffs. Kowloon Ping Loan Workers' Union extract 10 cents for every pig im- ported.
72.
;
The
These practices may well be a legacy of the guild system and may indicate bargaining ability of a high order but they do not assist in the building up of a sound healthy trade union movement. Fortunately the law provides that if more than half of the income of a union is derived from sources other than subscriptions it is liable to Corporation Tax and this may have some effect on the practice.
73.
is a general rule, where women are admitted into membership of a union they pay to same entrance fee and subscriptions as the men but there are several unions where women contribute at a lower rate.
74.
Death benefit schemes are almost universal. Some are properly conducted on a subscription basis, but the majority operate their scheme on a collection basis whenever a death occurs. Some unions utilising . this method pay a fixed amount to the next of kin and the rest goes into the union funds or into a special Welfare Fund,
Jus
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