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I submit a draft reply to Mr Marshall accordingly.
D F Milton
11 December 1975
Dr.F. Millon
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Hong Kong and Indian Ocean Dept
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CONFIDENTIAL covering SECRET
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SPORETNET OF STATE'S MEETING WITH THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF MIE TUC: HONG KONG
1. at his meeting with the Governor of Hong Kong on ↳ December, the Secretary of State mentioned that he would be meeting the International Committee of the TUC on 8 December. I understand the International Committee have asked that ong Kong be included on the arenda.
2.
Under this agenda item the International Committee may well raise the questions of the social composition of the legislative Council; the need to simplify trade union law in Hong Kong; the adherence of Hong Kong to ILO Conventions; and the proposed enquiry into labour relations in the Colony.
legislative Council
3. As paragraph 4 of the record of the Secretary of State's talk with Sir Murray MacLehose indicates, plans are now in hand to select new people for the Legislative Council next year and to enlarge the Council to accommodate them. The Governor has not yet made his final choice but I think the International Committee can be reassured that
they will come from a rather different background than the Members at present serving. The Committee may also suggest that one or more should come from the independent trade unions. The Governor has promised to bear this possibility in mind but considers that appointees should, at this stage, be judged on their value to the community as a whole rather than on their role as trade unionists as such. The Governor's thinking is obviously based upon the knowledge that the independent trade unions are very small and unrepresentative (consisting, indeed, mainly of civil servants).
If this matter arises, the Secretary of State might draw attention, once again, to the difficulty of proceeding to representative government due to the opposition of the Chinese and the impossibility of finding ways to exclude candidates with KIT
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affiliations. He could add that he has encouraged the Governor to widen the social mix of the Members appointed to the Council and had received an assurance from Sir Murray MacLehose that plans to do so were now under active consideration. The suggestion that one or more Heubers should have a trade union background would be kept in mind, but there were undeniable difficulties at present due to the weakmess of trade unions generally and their differing political allegiances. Doubtless if a more active independent trade union movement got
under way, natural leaders would emerge in time.
Trade Union Legislation
5.
The Secretary of State might say that, as the International Committee know, he has been impressed by the argument that law and practice in the Colony are somewhat at odds since practice seemed to be more liberal than the letter of the law suggests. He has asked the Overseas Labour Adviser to take up this matter with the Labour Commissioner in Hong Kong to see if any of the present controls (e.g. on the employment of paid officials) are still necessary. ile might offer to report on this again when the study is complete.
IL Conventions
6. This matter did not receive much prominence at the Governor's meeting with the International Committee on 3 December.
If raised,
the Secretary of State might say that he had been assured by the Governor that steady progress is being maintained and Hong Kong should be able to notify its acceptance of a further two Conventions in the near future. He might add that he has reminded the Governor of the need to keep up the momentum in this respect. Lord Goronwy-Roberts's first review of the situation will take place in January.
Labour Relations Enquiry
7.
At the Governor's meeting with the International Committee, Hir Len Murray and others thought that Dr McCarthy's nominee for this enquiry would need the backing of a nominee each from the CBI and TUC. They did not wish to disparage Dr McCarthy, who was well known and respected by the TUC, but they thought the study must be given a practical bias and to this end believed that actual industrial and
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