Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144) - Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Ratification: 1997)

1. The Committee notes the Government’s report for the period ending in May 2005. It also notes the comments formulated by the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) in November 2004 and the Government’s reply to the said comments, which were appended to the Government’s report.

2. Tripartite consultations required by the Convention. With reference to the Committee’s previous request, the Government indicates that the latest report of the Labour Advisory Board (LAB), which will be published at the end of 2005, covers the responsibilities of the Committee on the Implementation of International Labour Standards (CIILS). During the period ending in May 2005, the CIILS met to advise on the possibility of applying new Conventions to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, as well as on the application of the Conventions that are already applicable to it. The Committee would appreciate receiving information in the next report about the consultations held on all the matters covered by the Convention.

3. Free choice of workers’ representatives. In its communication, the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) expressed the view that the current method of appointing workers’ representatives to the LAB was in violation of Article 3, paragraph 1, of the Convention. The HKCTU explains that, under the current system, one workers’ representative is appointed by the Government ad personam, while the other five are elected by trade unions regardless of their "most representative" character. The HKCTU considers that this election system is unfair to trade unions with a large membership base and may result in a LAB composition and in a decision-taking process which may be unfair to the most representative trade unions. In this regard, the Committee recalls that Article 3 of the Convention provides that "the representatives of employers and workers for the purposes of the procedures provided for in this Convention shall be freely chosen by their representative organizations". The Committee reminds that the principle of free choice is respected if the organizations themselves appoint their representatives directly (paragraph 44 of the 2000 General Survey on tripartite consultation). It further recalls that the determination of the most representative organizations must be based on objective, pre-established and precise criteria so as to avoid any possibility of bias or abuse. The Committee takes note that, on this question, the Government is ready to consider the views of the HKCTU and review the method for electing workers’ members before the next LAB term begins in 2007. It therefore hopes that the Government and the social partners concerned will examine how the representatives of workers for the procedures provided for in the Convention are chosen (Articles 1 and 3) and that the Government’s next report will contain indications on the measures taken in order to implement effective tripartite consultation in the sense of the Convention.