TNAG-0127-FCO40-163-Illegal-strikes-and-lockouts-ordinance-1969 — Page 24

COMEDENTIAL

Model Legis-

lation

and in Section 5 that :

4.

(a)

it is an offence for a person employed by the Crown or a private concern in certain essential services (defined as water, electricity and gas supplies, tram, bus and ferry services, telephone and sanitary services) wilfully and without due notice to break his contract of service, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that the probable consequence, failing the adoption of extra- ordinary measures, would be to deprive the community or a substantial part of it of such services or to endanger human life or property.

Section 5 seeks to delay strikes in essential services in pursuance of a trade dispute by making it an offence wilfully to break a contract of service, i.e., other than by due notice within the terms of the contract. Section 3 seeks to prohibit strikes

and lock-outs in essential services having an object other than, or in addition to, the furtherance of a trade dispute.

5. This legislation has never been invoked, e.g., to deal with the communist-inspired stoppages of work in essential services in 1967. Section 3 is defective. Those taking part in a strike or lock-out may be in doubt whether their activities are legal under its provisions and there is no way of removing those doubts except by a prosecution. Section 5 is unsatisfactory in that it does not incorporate certain important features of model legislation based on recommendations of the former Colonial Labour Advisory Committee which successive Secretaries of State have commended to dependent

territories.

6. The model legislation contains provisions comparable to Section 5

of the Hong Kong legislation; but it provides for :

(i)

the collective withdrawal of labour organised by a trade

union;

(ii)

for a uniform period of notice before strike action can

be taken;

(iii)

for the posting of notices by the employer in all premises giving the text of these provisions.

/7.