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HONG KONG: TRADE UNION LEGISLATION
1.
At the meeting on 23 April, Mr Mikardo and others expressed the view that the Colony's trade union legislation made it difficult for unions in Hong Kong to amalgamate and also precluded their employing paid officials.
2.
The Hong Kong Trade Unions Ordinance is more complex than the generality of Trade Union Ordinances in our dependent territories. This derives historically from a desire to protect the unions from external control and also to protect the interests of rank and file members. The effect of these protective (and restrictive) conditions has meant that International Labour Convention No. 87 (Freedom of Association) cannot be applied in Hong Kong in full. We have had to register seven modifications to the Convention. (Not all of these are of critical importance details are given at Appendix A.)
3.
It might be thought that an objective of any changes in the Hong Kong Trade Unions Ordinance could be to ensure full compliance with Convention No. 87. It is not considered, however, that important changes in the law needed to achieve this could with safety be embarked on at present. But a reduction in the number of "modifications" notified to the ILO would seem to be practicable if we can obtain the agreement of the Hong Kong Government. in the Hong Kong Trade Unions Ordinance have, however, proved to be very controversial in the past.
Changes
4.
The requirements of the law as to amalgamation of trade unions are not onerous. A simple majority of the executive of each trade union involved suffices. Mr Mikardo was probably referring to "federations" where the Registrar is required to satisfy himself that the union memberships are drawn from "the same trade, industry or occupation". The interpretation of this section has led to difficulties with a proposed Public Service federation.
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15.
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