ENG-1961 — Page 237

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LEGISLATION

At present, all the law relating to trade unions and trade disputes is to be found in the Trade Unions and Trade Disputes Ordinance, Chapter 64. When the Trade Union Registration Ordinance, 1961 comes into operation, the existing Ordinance will be renamed the Trade Disputes Ordinance and will therefore only contain provi- sions relating to arbitration. The new Ordinance deals with all matters relating to the registration of trade unions and the control of their internal administration. Legal status was first conferred upon trade unions in Hong Kong in 1948 by a system of com- pulsory registration prescribed by the existing Ordinance, which gave trade unions a measure of exemption from actions in tort and from liability for criminal prosecution for conspiracy. It also imposed upon trade unions certain obligations. These were imposed because it was necessary and reasonable to expect from trade unions, duly registered, a proper sense of responsibility and a measure of administrative regularity. But that Ordinance was enacted prior to the enormous industrial development and con- sequent growth in the working population of the Colony which has taken place since 1948. In consequence, experience has revealed certain defects not only in the trade union organization, administra- tion and practice, but in the Ordinance itself.

The Trade Union Registration Ordinance, 1961, is designed to remedy those defects in order that the trade union movement may be provided with greater opportunity for healthy development. The effect of the basic provisions of the existing Ordinance will remain substantially unchanged, but greater powers are given to the Registrar of Trade Unions to ensure that the law is complied with and to encourage the proper control and administration of their funds. There is one feature of particular interest, perhaps primarily to lawyers, and that is the statutory incorporation of trade unions upon their registration. This is a departure from accepted trade union legislation and is designed to facilitate the holding of property by unions. Under the existing Ordinance, trade unions are not corporate bodies and are only able to hold property as beneficiaries under trusts. This has led to a variety of complicated arrangements in trusts, mostly implied. To get over the difficulty, it was thought desirable to grant corporate status for all purposes to registered trade unions. In other respects, the Ordinance is a comprehensive revision of the existing law.