Profusion of unions to reshape political landscape

The Labour Department has received hundreds of applications to set up new trade unions since mass social unrest erupted last summer, which some critics say will fundamentally change the work culture in Hong Kong, RTHK reports.

But more far-reaching would be the role these unions, many of which are linked to political parties, will play in shaping the future political landscape in the city, particularly in the committee that will elect the next Chief Executive.

Registered unions can also vote for the three seats that represent the labour sector in Legco. But they have to have been in operation for at least a year before an election to secure a vote.

The Labour Department said it has received 735 applications to set up trade unions between June and February this year. But at the end of last month, 679 had still not been processed.

According to the law, all new unions have to be gazetted after their application is approved.

That means many of the newly-formed groups won't get to cast a ballot in the Legco elections in September.

But it will be a different story for the Chief Executive election in two years' time. Many of the new trade unions will be eligible to vote for representatives on the election committee which will decide who becomes Hong Kong's next leader.

RTHK has been looking at the records, and found that at least 26 of the unions established over the past three months have ties to the pan-democratic camp.

Eighteen of them used the pro-democracy camp's Confederation of Trade Unions' address in Yau Ma Tei to apply.

A social platform called "Hong Kong petitions" which has been helping people to form unions in different sectors, say it wants a representative election panel.

Red, who works for the platform, said they had organised some 30 to 40 groups of people and assisted them in applying to register as trade unions to provide representation for ordinary people in the CE election committee.

But it's not just the pan-dems who have been busy setting up unions; the pro-government camp has been doing exactly the same. In the past three months,13 new unions have appeared with possible ties to them.

The chairman of the pro-Beijing Federation of Trade Unions, Wong Kwok, said he doesn't support the establishment of all these new workers' groups for political ends.

He said the focus of trade unions should be on the rights of its members. Using them to try to gain political influence is just irresponsible, he said.

The chairman of the Hong Kong Financial Industry Employees General Union, Easy Kwok, is not convinced that the new trade unions will have much impact on the process to select Hong Kong's leader in 2022. He said he believes it's much more important to fight for genuine democracy.-Photo: RTHK