Hong Kong has a labour force of 3.1 million, distributed as follows: 17.5 percent in manufacturing, 8.1 in construction, 28.9 in distribution and catering (including 236,000 in hotels and restaurants), 11.4 in transport and communication, 11.6 in banking, insurance, real estate and business services and 21.5 in public services, health and education.

There are three trade union confederations: the HK Federation of Trade Unions (FTU), which claims 257,000 members in 135 unions, the HK Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU), 140,000 members claimed in 42 unions, and the HK Trades Union Council (HKTUC), has an estimated 30,000 members in 69 unions.
The FTU has no international affiliation but is controlled by the CPC and follows the policies of the Chinese government. The HKCTU is part of the democratic opposition and its leadership is active in the Democratic Party and in Frontier (see above). The HKTUC is controlled by the Kuomintang and is aligned with the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Both HKCTU and HKTUC are ICFTU affiliates.
In addition, there are unions not affiliated to any of the confederations (mostly in the civil service), which are pro-Beijing or independent.
The conditions under which the three confederations operate are by no means comparable. The FTU membership, for example, must be seen against the background of massive financial support the FTU has received from China which has enabled it to build up a network of business enterprises and services which no other union organisation can match. This includes the second-largest vocational training system in Hong Kong and assets including over 40 branch offices. After 1989, the FTU bought nine offices for HKD10-20 million each and expanded its head office. It provides benefits to its members which include support for mortgages, discounts in supermarkets and on travel through its own travel agency, and free lifetime VISA cards issued by the Bank of China. It nets HKD36 million in business revenue per year from a printing press, a construction company and the South China Travel Agency, which sells package tours to China.
The HKCTU has a total annual revenue of HKD3 million in a normal year (HKD6.5m. in 1997 which included funds raised to purchase its new office). It raises its revenue mainly from membership dues and from street collections. For example, it set up a stand at the Kun Tong subway station on December 13 to demonstrate for Labour Rights Week (an event instituted by the ICFTU), at which it gave away 3,000 copies of a 45-page brochure explaining the Employment Ordinance and at the same time collected HKD14,000 in four hours in voluntary contributions from passers-by (which paid for the brochures and generated a substantial surplus). In 1997 the HKCTU applied for a HKD400,000 project to the ICFTU, which was supposed to pay for two organisers and their activity. This application was substantially cut back to HKD110,000 to be shared by the HKCTU and the HKTUC.
The fragmentation of the FTU membership in 135 unions should also be noted. This reflects a policy of maintaining small affiliates which are easier to control (those who are familiar with the CGTP in Portugal or the CTM in Mexico, for example, will recognise the pattern). HKCTU policy is the opposite: unifying its affiliates into larger units.
Relations between the FTU and the HKCTU are tense. The FTU attacks the HKCTU as an “arm of a foreign power” (because of its international affiliation) and as “too radical” (radical methods, like strikes, demonstrations, etc. and unrealistic demands, like implementation of ILO conventions). It also attacked the HKCTU for lodging a complaint with the ILO against the HKSAR government in October 1997, which it called “attempting to internationalise internal affairs.” The FTU, however, was itself criticised in the media (two TV channels) for failing to support the labour legislation which was adopted by the Legco and subsequently suspended by the Provisional Legislature.
The HKCTU Trade Union Rights Week demonstration on December 13 also featured an exhibit of twelve panels telling the story of HKCTU-led struggles for trade union rights, including those against the dismissals of union activists at the Welcome supermarket (1993), at HK Telecom (1993), at the bus company (for campaigning against noise hazards) and the Cathay Pacific 17-day strike in 1993 against increased flying time. One panel shows the decline of real wages (from 1.5 to 23 percent, depending on the sector) as a result of suppression of workers’ rights. (Photographs of panels available).
Contrary to some predictions, the post-handover situation has not led to a weakening of the HKCTU, which actually increased its membership since July by about 7-8 percent. FTU membership has also increased in about the same proportion, whereas HKTUC membership is ageing and in decline.
An assessment of the trade union situation in Hong Kong would have to conclude that the HKCTU is the representative organisation of free and democratic trade unionism whereas the FTU is a wholly controlled subsidiary of the Communist Party of China although, like all unions in Hong Kong, it is based on voluntary membership (the same can be said of the Beijing-controlled Macau Federation of Trade Unions). The decline of the HKTUC is likely to be terminal.