ENG-1981 — Page 88

EMPLOYMENT

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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, 16 new unions were registered, of which nine were formed by civil servants. At the end of the year, the register showed a total of 366 employees' unions with about 361 940 members; 38 merchants or employers organisations with some 3 400 members; and 16 mixed organisations of employees and employers with about 29 190 members.

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 69 affiliated unions with about 189 850 members. A further 23 unions are friendly towards this federation and they have about 31 350 members. 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 70 affiliated unions with membership of about 36 620 and 11 associated unions with some 1480 members. These unions are mainly in the catering and building trades.

The remaining 193 employees' unions are politically independent and have a membership of about 102 640, mostly drawn from the civil service and the teaching profession.

Labour Administration and Services

The Labour Department has an establishment of 1 836 and its services are continually expanding. Branch offices 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 also 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 15 divisions: administration, air pollution control, apprenticeship, development, employees' compensation, employment services, employment conditions, factory inspec- torate, occupational health, labour relations, women and young persons, mines, pro- secutions and training, selective placement and training council, youth employment advisory service, and overseas employment service.

Labour Relations

The Labour Relations Ordinance provides machinery for special conciliation, voluntary arbitration and boards of enquiry for settling trade disputes that cannot be resolved through ordinary conciliation.

In 1981, 149 trade disputes were settled by the conciliation service provided by the Labour Relations Service of the Labour Department. These disputes led to 49 work stoppages, resulting in 15 319 working days lost, compared with 21 069 days lost in 37 stoppages in 1980.

The service also dealt with 15 288 labour problems in 1981. These were mostly grievances involving individual claims for wages in arrears, wages in lieu of notice, severance pay, annual leave pay and holiday pay.

During the year, the Promotion Unit of the Labour Relations Service made 338 advisory visits to employers to promote good labour-management relations. Between April and