TNAG-0454-FCO40-519-Application-of-international-labour-conventions-to-Hong-Kong-1974 — Page 7

HXL 7/393/2

4 December 1974

چی

HONG KONG

His Excellency

Sir Murray MacLehose KCMG MBE

Governor and Commander-in-Chief

APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL LABOUR CONVENTION NO.98

CONCERNING THE RIGHT TO ORGANISE AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING, 1949

Sir,

I have the honour to refer to a letter dated 11 November 1974 from the Colonial Secretariat, Hong Kong, reference SS 98/3/5683/58 addressed to the Hong Kong and Indian Ocean Depart- ment of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and setting out the extent to which the provisions of the existing legislative and administrative measures in Hong Kong comply with the requirements of International Labour Convention No.98.

2.

In the light of the information given in the letter under reference I propose to arrange for a declaration of full application of Convention No.98 to Hong Kong to be deposited with the International Labour Office but you should be aware that once a declaration has been registered, the ILO's Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations may be expected to look closely at the position relating to the application of the Convention both in law and practice. I consider that the Committee may question certain aspects of application which will require the Hong Kong Government to imple- ment the requirements of the Convention to a greater degree than at present.

3.

There are three points which the Committee may raise. These concern:

Article 2 The Committee of Experts may expect the Government of Hong Kong to introduce legislation which explicitly implements the guarantees established in this Article concerning protection against acts of interference. You are already aware from earlier dis- cussions and correspondence with my Overseas Labour Adviser that the need to change the law could arise if the matter were pressed by the Committee of Experts:

/Article 4