7.
(b) New Section 3A. As at present
worded, the powers of the Governor
in Council seem to be confined to
strikes which have already started,
and do not extend to dealing with
threatened strikes. In the absence
of the notices referred to at
paragraph 2 above, workers would not
be aware in many cases until already
on strike that their action was
illegal. Moreover where acts are
done inciting or instigating a strike
before the strike is declared by the
Governor in Council to be illegal,
it would not be sufficient for the
purposes of a prosecution in respect
of those acts merely to show that the
Governor in Council had subsequently
declared the strike illegal.
It
would, I am advised, be necessary to
establish that the strike was
illegal under Section 3(1). My agent to the Registatin becoms fermount is the pure stepenent on I note that you do not propose to amend
ather revisions of this Ordinance. But in
my view this opportunity to incorporate certain desirable features of the model legislation
should not be allowed to pass. I have in mind provision under Section 5 for the collective withdrawal of labour by a trade union; and a general provision requiring employers to post notices in all premises giving the text of
the main provisions of the Ordinance (to which reference has been made in paragraph 2(c) above).
8. I would ask you therefore to reconsider the proposed amendments to the Illegal Strikes and Lock-Outs Ordinance in the light of the foregoing comments. It would, I consider, be unwise merely to amend the legislation along the lines you contemplate. Improved legislation to deal with strikes and lock-outs in essential services is needed, but it would be preferable to replace the existing legislation with a new and comprehensive Bill containing inter alia provisions of a more specific kind than is at present contained in Hong Kong legislation for the settlement of disputes.
(ven u 6
NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.