Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1995, published 82nd ILC session (1995)

Labour Relations (Public Service) Convention, 1978 (No. 151) - China - Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Ratification: 1997)

The Committee notes the observation of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) and the reply of the Government thereto.

1. Article 7 of the Convention. The HKCTU indicates that as regards the possibility for staff representatives to participate in the determination of their employment conditions, staff associations have to be admitted first in order to gain representation in the consultation machinery at the central level. The Government states that representation in central consultative councils is not by appointment although it is correct that staff associations or unions have to be admitted first in order to gain such representation. The Government points out that the process of gaining admission is objective, transparent and involves consultation with existing staff side members of concerned central councils. Unions will be admitted to central councils as long as they meet objective numerical criteria which are designed to ascertain that they are representative and competent enough to perform the role of central consultative council members (500 or 25 per cent, at the departmental level).

The Committee thus observes that appropriate consultative machinery is in place at the central level which allows staff representatives to participate in the determination of civil service employment matters.

2. Article 8. The Committee once again notes the HKCTU's statement that it does not believe that the principles of the Convention pertaining to the settlement of disputes in the public services are applied by the Government in practice which denies civil servants the right to an independent resolution of their disputes. In this respect, the HKCTU refers to a recent pay dispute between the Government and the civil servant workforce in which all the unions had asked for arbitration but the Government had refused it even after the Legislative Council had passed a resolution for arbitration.

The Government reiterates that where a dispute between the Government and the staff side cannot be resolved through negotiation, the matter can be referred to an independent committee of inquiry under the 1968 Agreement made between the Government and the three main staff associations. However, it is laid down in the Agreement that such a committee will not be invoked on a matter which is trivial, of settled public policy, or affects the security of Hong Kong. The Government indicates, in this respect, that the pay dispute cited by the HKCTU concerns a settled public policy and is outside the purview of arbitration by a committee of inquiry. It is therefore not appropriate to refer to this case as an illustration that civil servants are denied the opportunity of an independent resolution to disputes.

The Committee would once again recall that under Article 8, the settlement of disputes in the public service should be sought "through negotiation between the parties or through independent and impartial machinery, such as mediation, conciliation and arbitration, established in such a manner as to ensure the confidence of the parties involved". The Committee would therefore request the Government to ensure in future that the principles of the Convention will be applied to the settlement of such disputes.

[The Government is asked to report in detail in 1996.]