Rights and duties of office bearers of trade union
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This leaflet aims at providing information of the
statutory rights and duties of trade unions, trade union
members and officers provided by the Trade Unions
Ordinance and other relevant legislation, as well as the
rights and obligations of members and officers under
their trade union rules. Irrespective of any attempts
hereby made in illustrating the provisions in the law,
the relevant Ordinances themselves remain the sole
authority for the provisions of the law explained.
The Right to Organize
a Trade Union
•Article 27 of the Basic Law guarantees that Hong
Kong residents have the freedom of association and
the freedom to form and join trade unions.
•The Employment Ordinance (EO) provides that every
employee has the rights to be a member / an officer
of a trade union registered under the Trade Unions
Ordinance (TUO), and to associate with other persons
for the purpose of forming or applying for the
registration of a trade union. Trade union members /
officers have the right to take part in activities of the
trade union outside working hours or if with the
consent of the employer, during working hours.
•Moreover, the EO also provides that an employer
shall not prevent or deter an employee from
exercising any of the above rights; or dismiss,
penalize or discriminate against an employee for
exercising the above rights. An employer shall not
make it a condition of employment that an employee
must not exercise the above rights.
Statutory Rights of Trade Unions
•Protection from criminal prosecution / civil suits •
Although the purposes of a trade union registered
under the TUO may be involved in restraint of trade,
such purposes alone would not render any
agreement or trust void, or give rise to a charge of
criminal conspiracy on trade union members.
Moreover, a trade union, its members and officers
also enjoy immunity from civil suits for certain acts
•Body Corporate •
According to the TUO, a registered trade union is a
body corporate, with perpetual succession and with
power to hold property movable or immovable and
to enter into contracts and to institute legal
proceedings.
Statutory Rights of Trade Union Members
•Apart from the abovementioned stipulations,
members of a registered trade union have the
following rights under the TUO:
•Inspection of union documents
•Trade union members or their authorized agents
have the right to inspect the account books and
membership register of the union at such times
and in such place as specified in the union rules.
They may also apply to the Registrar of Trade
Unions in writing for inspection free of charge of
any documents required by law to be filed with the
Registrar that are related to the union, such as
annual statements of accounts, registered union
rules and lists of union officers.
•Other Statutory Rights
•Trade union members can take legal action
against any officer of the union concerned for
wilfully withholding or misapplying union funds or
property, and apply to the Court for an injunction
restraining the union officer from holding office or
controlling trade union funds. Besides, trade
union members may appeal to the Court of First
Instance of the High Court against the Registrar of
Trade Unions on such decisions as refusal to
register a change of union name or refusal to
register amendments to union rules, etc.
done in contemplation or furtherance of a trade
dispute. It is lawful for trade union members, in
contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute, to
attend a picket line in a peaceful and lawful manner
Answer:
Explanation:
Sir how to disqualify union OFFICE BEARERS