TNAG-0648-FCO40-796-Study-of-labour-relations-in-Hong-Kong-by-Professor-H-A-Turn-1977 — Page 151

Mr MiMon

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PROFESSOR TURNER'S INTERIM STUDY OF LABOUR RELATIONS IN HONG KONG

1.

I have had several conversations today with Mr Hargreaves, the Head of the TUC's International Department, about this report which may reveal the type of questions we shall have to answer when TUC representatives voice their opinions at the OLCC meeting on 29 April.

2. Mr Hargreaves has seized on the significance of a paragraph which appears in Professor Hart's report on page xx of Appendix A. In summary Professor Hart is saying that for so long as the predominant communist sector of the Hong Kong trade union movement prefers to remain quiescent, then we should look to existing and future labour legislation and the development of social security/social services to secure improvements for wage earners in the colony. Some questions may be asked, therefore, about our intentions with regard to social security, development of the Hong Kong educational system and the provision of housing. Developing this same theme Mr Hargreaves went on to ponder whether there might be a place for trade union representation on bodies dealing with the development of these social services even if they are reluctant to play a part, through collective bargaining, in an industrial relations system. I pointed to the appointment in October 1976 of four persons, including one trade unionist, to give a broader social mix to the composition of Hong Kong Legislative Council and said that the Governor could claim with reason that wage earners' interests were now represented to some degree in the Council. Mr Hargreaves replied that more was needed. In Britain it is not sufficient to have or to rely on trade union sponsored MPs in the House of Commons: trade unions are represented all down the line in all forms of advisory and consultative committees. He then asked whether in Urban Government there is any possibility of trade union representation. He went on to say that trade unionists in Hong Kong should also be associated with the Housing Authority, the expansion of the educational system and of medical services. He clearly thought that if advisory bodies existed for these purposes, they should include trade union representatives. In Mr Hargreaves' words "The Hong Kong Government should be looking on this kind of role for the trade union movement".

3.

If possible, I think we should seek to answer as many of these questions as possible. I wonder if the Hong Kong Government produces any form of report which will be useful to Mr Hargreaves.

For example,

I have a copy of a report entitled "Hong Kong 1973" published in that year by the Hong Kong Government press. Is there a more recent version of this report and does it show the existence and composition of any advisory board? For example the 1973 report in my possession reveals at page 53 that the Director of Education is Chairman of the Board of Education which advises the Governor on educational matters. Is there a trade union representative on the Board? Does the Housing Authority mentioned in Chapter 8 or the Town Planning Board (page 91) include trade union representation.

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