History
The Confederation was established in 1990. HKCTU has its roots in the Christian Industrial Committee. HKCTU was established on the initiative of public sector workers.
Days before transfer of sovereignty in 1997, with the support of the democratic camp, the HKCTU successfully established statutory rights of collective bargaining of labour unions, which mandate employers to negotiate with labour unions on issues such as salaries, welfare and working hours. Under strong objections from the pro-business sector such as the Liberal Party, the laws were abolished by the Provisional Legislative Council shortly after the transfer of sovereignty.
Members of HKCTU were involved in organizing a number of local protests, including the mass protest of July 1, 2003 to oppose the legislation of Article 23 of the Basic Law (organized by the Civil Human Rights Front of which HKCTU is a member), and other protests to struggle for labour rights and democracy in Hong Kong and in Mainland China.
In the 1998 LegCo election, the group was represented by Lau Chin-shek (also a member of Democratic Party and The Frontier) and Lee Cheuk-yan (also a member of The Frontier) in the LegCo. Lau quit the Democratic Party before the 2000 LegCo election, had not renewed the membership of The Frontier before the 2004 election, and did not run under the HKCTU banner in the 2004 election.
Read more about this topic: Hong Kong Confederation Of Trade Unions
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