TNAG-0127-FCO40-163-Illegal-strikes-and-lockouts-ordinance-1969 — Page 6

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Foreign and Commonwealth Office London S.W.1

27

CONFIDENTIAL

SAVING DESPATCH

HKK 5/8

From the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth

To the Governor, HONG KONG

30 December, 1969

No. 566

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Illegal Strikes and Lock-outs Ordinance Chapter 61

Affairs

I refer to your Saving Despatch No. CR 29/3231/49 of 28 November, 1968 (to which I regret no earlier reply has been sent) on the subject of the proposed amendments to the Illegal Strikes and Lock-outs Ordinance Chapter 61. I welcome the decision of your Government to seek to improve the effectiveness of your legislation to protect the public interest from strikes and lock-outs in essential services; but I remain doubtful as to the manner in which it is proposed this should be achieved.

2.

These doubts are heightened by the consideration that the amendments, proposed in your Saving Despatch, seem to be hardly consistent with the second part of the statement which was made by the Commissioner of Labour in Legislative Council on 20 December, 1967, and to which you refer in paragraph 2 of your Saving Despatch, viz. that the permanent legislation which your Government have in mind to replace the present Ordinance, would, while protecting the public interest from strikes and lock-outs of a coercive nature in essential services, at the same time protect the interests of those involved in genuine trade disputes. The amendments proposed do not touch on this aspect except to the extent that they provide machinery for removing doubts in the minds of those taking part in a strike or lock-out as to whether or not their actions are illegal. I consider that more positive measures are required to fulfil adequately the assurances implicit in the statement made by the Commissioner of Labour.

3. In this connection it will be recalled that as far back as October 1960 (Hong Kong savingram No. 2081) my predecessor of that date was advised of the intention of the Hong Kong Government to revise its Essential Services Legislation in the light of the model Ordinance commended to all Colonial Governments at that time. You will recall

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