Labour union members launch think tank to tackle policies as political landscape in Hong Kong shifts

Veterans of the pro-establishment Federation of Trade Unions unveil the New Era Governance Research Centre

They hope the new group can provide a broader platform for professionals to convey policy concerns than what the union offers

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Members of the New Era Governance Research Centre, including Federation of Trade Unions lawmaker Alice Mak, unveil the think tank on Wednesday. Photo: Tony Cheung

Published: 8:05pm, 28 Jul 2021Updated: 9:47pm, 28 Jul 2021

A group of pro-establishment unionists and professionals have joined hands to establish a new think tank in a bid to increase their influence over housing and innovation policies in Hong Kong.

Unveiling the New Era Governance Research Centre on Wednesday, former Federation of Trade Unions lawmaker Bill Tang Ka-piu expressed hope the think tank would lead his labour colleagues to cooperate more with people from other sectors and broaden the goals of the workers’ group.

“Many professionals are more interested in public policy. Rather than asking them to join a union as a governor, it’s better to form this policy think tank to gather them,” said Tang, who was a legislator from 2012 to 2016.

“In the past, officials often viewed the federation as a grass-roots or labour group, which is predominantly concerned about labour issues that can be solved between employers and employees … We hope that with this think tank, our proposals will be more persuasive, professional and pragmatic.”

The group currently has about 20 members, at least seven of whom belong to the federation. They included the think tank’s convenor, lawmaker Alice Mak Mei-kuen, Tang and former district councillor Joephy Chan Wing-yan.

Other think tank members were: engineer Henry Cheung Nin-sang, chairman of the Association of Hong Kong Railway Transport Professionals; Dick Kwok Ngok-chung, a former president of the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors; and law expert Louis Chen, secretary general of the Hong Kong Legal Exchange Foundation.