ENG-1985 — Page 110

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Trade Unions

EMPLOYMENT

Trade unions in Hong Kong must be registered under the Trade Unions Ordinance administered by the Registrar of Trade Unions. Once registered, they are corporate bodies and enjoy immunity from certain civil suits.

During the year, 15 new unions were registered; 10 were formed by civil servants. At the end of the year, there was a total of 437 unions comprising 391 employees' unions with about 359 100 members, 33 employers' associations with some 3 150 members, and 13 mixed organisations of employees and employers with about 23 520 members.

About one-third of the employees' unions are affiliated to either 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.

The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, which supports the policies of the Government of the People's Republic of China, has 70 affiliated unions with about 166 380 members. Its affiliated unions are concentrated in shipyards, textile mills, public transport, public utilities and the printing and carpentry trades.

The Hong Kong and Kowloon Trades Union Council supports the policies of the authorities in Taiwan and is affiliated with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. It has 70 affiliated unions with a membership of about 35 550. These unions are mainly in the catering and building trades.

The remaining 251 employees' unions have a membership of about 157 170, mostly drawn from the Civil Service and the teaching profession.

Labour Administration and Services

The Labour Department has an establishment of 1 655 and its services continue to expand. Branch offices in the urban areas and 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 affairs. He is also the Commissioner of Mines.

The department initiates labour legislation and ensures that Hong Kong's obligations under international labour conventions are observed. It is made up of 16 divisions: administration, air pollution control, development, information and public relations, employees' compensation, employment services, factory inspectorate, labour relations, mines, occupational health, pressure equipment, prosecutions, selective placement, staff training and development, women and young persons, and the youth employment advisory service and overseas employment service.

During the year, the Staff Training and Development Division organised two induction courses for 31 new recruits and 13 in-service training programmes for 726 serving officers. In addition, a total of 21 officers were sent overseas for further training and in preparation for new areas of service to be provided to the public.

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. A committee on labour relations was set up under the Labour Advisory Board to promote good labour-management relations.

In 1985, 155 trade disputes were handled by the conciliation service provided by the Labour Relations Service of the Labour Department. These disputes led to three work stoppages, with a loss of 1 160 working days. This compared with 3 083 days lost in 11 work stoppages in 1984. The service also dealt with 17 928 labour problems. These were mostly