ENG-1955 — Page 57

OCCUPATIONS, WAGES AND LABOUR ORGANIZATION

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Commissioner of Mines. The duties which he formerly dis- charged in connexion with the registration of trade unions are now undertaken by the Registrar of Trade Unions, who administers a separate Department for this purpose.

The Labour Department is responsible for the initial preparation of all labour legislation, and keeps under review the legislative and administrative arrangements for giving effect to the Colony's obligations under I.L.O. Conventions. It acts as a channel of conciliation in disputes both between trade unions and employers and individual workmen and employers. The Department also seeks to encourage joint consultation in industry, and advises on the establishment of appropriate machinery for this purpose. A section of the Department is responsible for advising trade unions on the management of their affairs, and for organizing classes on various aspects of trade unionism. It also ensures that I.L.O. requirements are met regarding conditions of service of emigrant labour.

The Department is represented on inter-departmental committees on industrial development, and on various other committees in the fields of welfare and vocational training. Its main office is centrally situated on the Hong Kong waterfront, with a branch office in Kowloon for the con- venience of the public and to facilitate inspections of industrial areas in Kowloon and the New Territories.

The Registry of Trade Unions, which was established as a separate Department in December 1954, is now respon- sible for the registration work formerly carried out by the Labour Department under the Trade Unions and Trade Disputes Ordinance, 1948. It deals with applications for registration by new trade unions, and for registration of alterations of rules or of change of name or amalgamation by registered unions, and with dissolutions. Registered trade unions are also required by the Ordinance to transmit to the Registrar annual returns before I June and their audited accounts within a month of presentation to members.

The year ended with 300 unions on the Register, as against 297 in December 1954. 10 new organizations were registered (9 of workers and 1 of employers), but 7 were removed from the Register, 5 having ceased to exist, while one became a limited company and another a society. The