XN000022-1997-02-26 — Page 10

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"Our record of working days lost has also been extremely low. These 1,763 workers involved in the strike represent 0.99 working days lost per 1,000 wage earners in Hong Kong. I am very pleased with our harmonious labour relations," she said.

The three-day meeting which will last until Friday (February 28) is co-hosted by the Labour Department and the ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

In the meetings, ILO directors and relevant specialists will give presentations while 22 delegates representing employees, employers and governments from Hong Kong, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam will hold tripartite inter-country group discussions and country level discussions.

Miss Willis said that in Hong Kong, the concept of tripartite cooperation on labour matters had long been established and the International Labour Convention No. 144 concerning Tripartite Consultation to Promote the Implementation of International Labour Standards was currently applied to Hong Kong with modification.

Hong Kong's most representative tripartite institution was the Labour Advisory Board (LAB) which was the principal body responsible for advising the Government on labour policy issues including legislative enactment and the application of international labour standards, she said.

"Built on the tripartite mechanism, it facilities a multilateral dialogue of negotiations and cooperation among employees, employers and government officials in the process of building up a framework of consensus.

"And, it is often within such a joint forum that opinions can be discussed, interests balanced, proposals reviewed and solutions negotiated in a pragmatic and rational fashion, accommodating the views of other parties.

"This mechanism has served Hong Kong well in the past in meeting the reasonable aspirations of the working population at a pace affordable to the community.

"The tripartite institution of the LAB has played a pivotal role in helping to stabilise our labour relations and reducing the risk of industrial conflicts," Miss Willis said.

Apart from the LAB, she said, Hong Kong had many other boards and committees which were tripartite in their composition and had made significant contributions in tackling various labour issues.

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