ENG-1993 — Page 145

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EMPLOYMENT

conventions set out the standards on matters relating to employment rights, conditions of work, social policy, labour administration, labour relations and social security. The Commissioner for Labour ensures that Hong Kong's obligations under these conventions are observed.

The International Labour Conventions have significant influence on the formulation of labour legislation in the territory. At the end of 1993, Hong Kong applied 49 conventions, which compared favourably with most members of the International Labour Organisation in the region.

Trade Unions

Trade unions must be registered under the Trade Unions Ordinance, which is administered by the Registrar of Trade Unions. Once registered, a trade union becomes a corporate body and enjoys immunity from certain civil suits.

During the year, 22 new unions were registered. At the end of 1993, there were 532 unions, comprising 491 employees' unions, 26 employers' associations and 15 mixed organisations of employees and employers. Their total memberships were about 525 800, 2 600 and 14 500, respectively.

The majority of employees' unions are affiliated to one of the five major local labour organisations registered under the Societies Ordinance. These are the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (89 affiliated unions with about 192 500 members); Hong Kong and Kowloon Trades Union Council (66 affiliated unions with about 30 600 members); Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (27 affiliated unions with about 75 200 members); the Joint Organisation of Unions, Hong Kong (18 affiliated unions with about 9 700 members); and the Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions (20 affiliated unions with about 21 600 members). The remaining 271 employees' unions have a total membership of about 196 200.

Labour Relations

In 1993, the Labour Relations Division of the Labour Department conciliated in 157 trade disputes (each involving 21 or more workers), which involved 10 work stoppages and a loss of 16 204 working days. The service also dealt with 17 866 claims for wages and other employment-related payments.

A dispute between the Flight Attendants Union and the management of Cathay Pacific Airways Limited over staff deployment and pay adjustment issues developed into a strike in January, which lasted for 17 days and resulted in the loss of 15 000 working days. The strike, which straddled the Lunar New Year holidays, was unusually long in the experience of Hong Kong.

In July, some 170 staff of the China Motor Bus Company Limited were made redundant, following a government decision to grant Citybus Limited a franchise to operate 26 bus routes, to be excised from the existing network of the former bus company. The staff were dissatisfied with the compensation package, the scale of the retrenchment and other arrangements in the execution of the retrenchment exercise. The matter attracted considerable attention from the public.

The Labour Relations Ordinance provides the machinery for special conciliation, voluntary arbitration and boards of inquiry to settle trade disputes which cannot be resolved through ordinary conciliation.