ENG-1980 — Page 81

EMPLOYMENT

Trade Unions

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Trade unions in Hong Kong are given the legal status of corporate bodies by a system of registration under the Trade Unions Ordinance administered by the Registrar of Trade Unions. Once registered they enjoy immunity from certain civil suits.

During the year, 21 new unions were registered, of which 13 were formed by civil servants. At the end of the year, the register showed a total of 357 employees' unions with an estimated membership of 401,300; 40 merchants or employers organisations with an estimated membership of 4,290; and 15 mixed organisations of employees and employers with an estimated membership of 5,640.

Many of the employees' unions are either affiliated to, or associated with, one of the two local societies registered under the Societies Ordinance the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions and the Hong Kong and Kowloon Trades Union Council.

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The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, a left-wing organisation, has 66 affiliated unions with an estimated membership of 203,020. A further 29 unions are friendly towards this federation and they have an estimated membership of 64,530. Members of the affiliated and associated unions are concentrated in shipyards, textile mills, public transport and public utilities.

The Hong Kong and Kowloon Trades Union Council has right-wing sympathies and is affiliated with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. It has 71 affiliated unions with an estimated membership of 36,770 and 11 associated unions with an estimated membership of 1,380. The members of the affiliated and associated unions are mainly employed in the catering and building trades.

The remaining 180 employees' unions are politically independent and have an estimated membership of 95,600, mostly drawn from the civil service and the teaching profession.

There is a tendency for the local independent trade unions to accept affiliations with external organisations based in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Switzerland, Belgium and Japan. In this way they have cultivated good relationships with a number of international labour organisations and have become more aware of worldwide trends in trade union movements.

Labour Administration and Services

The Labour Department has an establishment of 1,644 and its services are continually expanding. Branch offices all conveniently located in the urban areas and the New Territories - deal promptly with labour matters, raised by local employers and employees. The Commissioner for Labour is the principal adviser to the government on labour matters. He is concurrently the Commissioner of Mines.

The Labour Department initiates labour legislation and ensures that Hong Kong's obligations under international labour conventions are observed. The department is made up of 14 divisions: administration, air pollution control, apprenticeship, development, employment services, selective placement, employment conditions, factory inspectorate, industrial health, labour relations, mines, prosecutions and training, training council, and employees' compensation.

Labour Relations

The Labour Relations Ordinance provides machinery for special conciliation, voluntary arbitration and boards of inquiry for settling trade disputes that cannot be resolved through ordinary conciliation. However, it has not been necessary, so far, to resort to any of these provisions for the settlement of disputes.