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industry have ever been formed if one excepts the left wing Federation of Trade Unions and the right wing Trade Union Council which are registered as societies and, in any case, operate mainly in the political field.
10.
Communist Trade Unions. Direct action against the formation and growth of Communist trade unions is not of course possible. I believe that their expansion is most likely to be curbed by a continuing rapid growth in our export industries, with the improved labour conditions this promises, and by the provision we plan of better social services generally, these plans too, being conditional on the continuing growth of export industries. In some cases Communist trade unions offer well organized welfare schemes, and the provision by Government and the voluntary agencies of improved medical, educational and social welfare facilities will reduce the attraction of these for the working population.
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I believe the concluding sentence of the Special Branch paper to which you refer to be still valid although the establish- ment of strong and effective neutral unions is not likely to take place in the foreseeable future. On the other hand wages and other working conditions are steadily improving and are probably far better than in most other countries in this region. There has been some development in joint consultation. The absence of machinery for joint consultation does not, however, mean that staff relations are generally unsatisfactory and I believe that, on the whole, the situation in Hong Kong compares favourably with most other indus- trialised countries including the United Kingdom.
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With reference to the statement in paragraph 17 of the Special Branch Report to which you refer, it is by no means certain that labour courts will be established, but if they are it is in- tended that they should provide a means of quickly resolving certain types of grievances in this field. Some opposition can be expected from Communist trade unions and not all managements will be happy about their introduction.
13. The material benefits offered, together with an element of intimidation, are mainly responsible for the steady increase in the membership of Communist trade unions. In some cases workers join such unions in order to keep open some avenue of contact with relatives and families still in China or to provide relatives in China with evidence of their loyalty to the Chinese People's Government should they be interrogated about this. is, however, a minor consideration and there are probably no specific measures that Government can take to counter it.
This
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The Commissioner of Labour discussed various points with Mr. Gibson during his visit. One proposal which Mr. Gibson put
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