TY - JOUR
T1 - Union weakness in Hong Kong
T2 - Workplace industrial relations and the Federation of Trade Unions
AU - Chan, Andy W.
AU - Snape, Ed
N1 - Publisher copyright:
© 2000 (SAGE, London, Thousand Oaks and New Delhi)
PY - 2000/5
Y1 - 2000/5
N2 - This article examines the weakness of Hong Kong unions at the workplace, focusing on the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU). The FTU has adopted a more outward-looking approach to organizing, but some question the FTU's ability to balance the effective representation of workers with its association with the government, raising the question of whether the weakness of Hong Kong unions may be attributable to continued 'industrial pacifism'. The analysis suggests that the weakness of unions at the workplace may in some cases owe something to the policies of the unions, but that in general the causes of union weakness are rather more complex. In particular, management hostility towards unions makes it difficult for them to effectively represent their members, while employee apathy is a significant problem.
AB - This article examines the weakness of Hong Kong unions at the workplace, focusing on the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU). The FTU has adopted a more outward-looking approach to organizing, but some question the FTU's ability to balance the effective representation of workers with its association with the government, raising the question of whether the weakness of Hong Kong unions may be attributable to continued 'industrial pacifism'. The analysis suggests that the weakness of unions at the workplace may in some cases owe something to the policies of the unions, but that in general the causes of union weakness are rather more complex. In particular, management hostility towards unions makes it difficult for them to effectively represent their members, while employee apathy is a significant problem.
KW - climate
KW - dual union-organization commitment
KW - industrial relations
KW - union commitment
KW - union roles
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-0034401866&doi=10.1177%2f0143831X00212002&partnerID=40&md5=ee73ffae4e1941382f631d69e6c40b1b
U2 - 10.1177/0143831X00212002
DO - 10.1177/0143831X00212002
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0143-831X
VL - 21
SP - 117
EP - 146
JO - Economic and Industrial Democracy
JF - Economic and Industrial Democracy
IS - 2
ER -
