‘Tsunami-like’ surge in applications to form unions puts ‘enormous pressure’ on authorities, Hong Kong labour minister says

Law Chi-kwong says the government will continue to fulfil duties under the national security law and deregister any unions that do not comply with local laws

About 80 per cent, or 3,450 of 4,289 applications filed last year, are yet to be processed, he says

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Members of the Confederation of Trade Unions march from Causeway Bay to Central in 2017. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 9:44pm, 16 May 2021Updated: 12:13am, 17 May 2021

A “tsunami-like” surge of applications to register trade unions in Hong Kong following the 2019 social unrest has put “an enormous pressure” on authorities, the labour minister has revealed.

But Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong on Sunday pledged that the government would ensure any unions that failed to comply with local laws would not be allowed to exist and would be deregistered, as it aimed to fulfil new duties under the national security law.

The Labour Department’s Registry of Trade Unions received 1,578 applications for new associations in the first quarter of last year, Law said. This compares with just 16 applications received over the same period in 2018, before anti-government protests erupted the following year.

The massive surge in applications put “an enormous pressure” on the authority, he said, noting about 80 per cent, or 3,450 of 4,289 applications filed last year, had yet to be processed.

He warned the organisations must stick to the city’s laws or face the consequences.

“When registered unions breach the Trade Unions Ordinance, the Registry of Trade Unions will follow it up and will not rule out cancelling the affiliation,” he said.