Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions

Early years

The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, then known as the Hong Kong and Kowloon Federation of Trade Unions, was formed by the pro-Communist trade unionists in 1948, at the same time as its rival, pro-Nationalist Hong Kong and Kowloon Trades Union Council (TUC), was set up in the midst of the Chinese Civil War between the Communists and Nationalists in Mainland China. It was registered as non-union "friendly societies" under the Societies Ordinance in order to avoid the restrictive provision in the newly introduced Trade Union Registration Ordinance of 1948.^[6] During the 1950s and 60s, the HKFTU functioned as industrially based "friendly societies" or craft-based fraternities and provided benefits and other supplementary aids to the veteran members who was under the threats of unemployment and low pay.^[5] It contested with the TUC in industries, trades, and workplaces under the "left-right" ideological divide in that period.^[7]

The relations between the HKFTU and the colonial government remained tense. The union activities were under strict restriction from the government. Inspired by the Cultural Revolution, the HKFTU escalated labour disputes into the anti-colonial government riots in 1967. Many labour activists and HKFTU cadres were imprisoned and deported. Due to its violence and bomb attacking campaign, the HKFTU suffered serious setbacks in both public esteem and official tolerance.^[8] During the riots the HKFTU also boycotted participation in any officially appointed consultative bodies by the colonial government until Beijing's Communist government adopted the economic reform in the late 1970s.^[9]

Transition to 1997

In the background of the 1980s shifts of the political economy in the Mainland China and the negotiations on Hong Kong's political status after 1997, the HKFU readjusted its policy toward the colonial government. The democratic reform introduced by the government also opened an access to political power for the trade unions. In first ever Legislative Council election in 1985, representatives from the HKFTU, Tam Yiu-chung, and the TUC were elected uncontestedly to the two newly created seats in the Labour functional constituency. Tam Yiu-chung continued to serve as the member of the Legislative Council until was succeeded by Cheng Yiu-tong in 1995.

On the other hand, as the most massive grassroots organ of the pro-Beijing bloc the HKFTU also assumed a vanguard role to resist the pre-1997 democratisation. It opposed to the possible direct Legislative Council election of 1988 with the slogan of "Hong Kong workers want only meal tickets but not electoral ballots."^[8] However, during the Hong Kong Basic Law drafting process from 1985 to 1990, the HKFTU had to repudiate its demands on rights of union recognition and collective bargaining in the Consultative and Drafting Committees dominated by tycoons. The HKFTU's devotion to Beijing and its collaboration with the conservative business interests were challenged by some leftist unionists.^[8]

In the beginning of the 1990s, the HKFTU began more involved in politics to counter to the emerging pro-democracy parties such as the United Democrats of Hong Kong (later transformed into Democratic Party) and its ally the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU). Chan Yuen-han represented for the HKFTU to run for the 1991 Legislative Council direct election but was defeated by the Lau Chin-shek, the pro-democracy labour activist representing the United Democrats of Hong Kong. In 1992, the first pro-Beijing party the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) was co-founded by the HKFTU members. HKFTU began to mobilise supporters to vote for the DAB candidates in the Legislative Council elections.

Since handover

In 1997 after the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong, the HKFTU's representatives joined the Beijing-controlled Provisional Legislative Council to roll back several pre-handover labour rights laws passed in spring 1997 by the colonial legislature controlled by the pro-democracy camp, which included the collective bargaining right under the Employee’s Rights to Representation, Consultation and Collective Bargaining Ordinance. The Provisional Legislative Council also enacted new electoral rules to disenfranchise some 800,000 blue-, gray- and white-collar workers in the nine functional constituencies created from Chris Patten's electoral reform.^[8] The number of eligible voters in the Labour functional constituency was reduced from 2,001 qualified union officials in 1995 to only 361 unions on a one-vote-per-union basis for the first SAR elections in 1998.^[8]

The HKFTU has been a vocal supporter of the Central and SAR governments, its then-president Cheng Yiu-tong was appointed non-official member of the Executive Council from 2002 to 2017. During the early years of the SAR administration, HKFTU members ran in direct elections under the banner of its sister organisation DAB. Since the 2008 Legislative Council elections, Chan Yuen-han and Wong Kwok-hing ran as a HKFTU member independently without DAB and carried a more grassroots and pro-labour rights agenda. In the 2011 District Council election, the HKFTU ran entirely on its own, winning 11 seats out of 20 candidates. In the 2012 Legislative Council elections, the HKFTU filled candidates in four of the five geographical constituencies and veteran Chan Yuen-han contested in the territory wide District Council (Second) constituency, becoming the fourth largest political group in the legislature.

In the 2015 District Council election, the HKFTU had 29 candidates elected (two under both DAB and FTU banners). Its Legislative Council seats dropped from six to five in the 2016 Legislative Council election as veteran Wong Kwok-hing failed to retain its District Council (Second) seat. Nevertheless, the HKFTU has risen as the third-largest political group in the Legislative Council today and had currently 30 HKFTU representatives elected in the District Councils.

Legislative Council elections

Election	Number of popular votes	% of popular votes	GC seats	FC seats	EC seats	Total seats	+/−	Position
1991	44,894	3.28	0	1	0	1 / 60	0	N/A
1995	DAB ticket		0	1	0	1 / 60	0	N/A
2000	DAB ticket		0	1	0	1 / 60	1	N/A
2004	52,564	2.97	1	2		3 / 60	2	5th
2008	86,311	5.70	2	2		4 / 60	1	5th
2012	127,857	7.06	3	3		6 / 70	2	2nd
2016	169,854	7.83	3	2		5 / 70	1	5th

Note 1: Each voter got two votes in the 1991 Election.
Note 2: Before 2008 the HKFTU had a joint-ticket with DAB.

District Council elections

Election	Number of popular votes	% of popular votes	Total elected seats	+/−
1988	3,360	0.53	2 / 264	1
1991	6,229	1.17	4 / 272	2
1999	1,074	0.13	1 / 390	1
2003	3,928	0.37	0 / 400	1
2007	42,045	3.69	15 / 405	11
2011	64,385	5.45	24 / 412	6
2015	95,583	6.61	29 / 431	2

Presidents

• Chan Yaocai, 1957–1980
• Yeung Kwong, 1980–1988
• Lee Chark-tim, 1988–2000
• Cheng Yiu-tong, 2000–2012
• Lam Shuk-yee, 2012–2018
• Ng Chau-pei, 2018–present

Chairmen

• Chu King-man, 1948–1949
• Cheung Chun-nam, 1949–1951
• Chan Man-hon, 1951–1954
• Chan Yaocai, 1954–1957
• Lee Sang, 1957–1962
• Yeung Kwong, 1962–1980
• Poon Kwong-wai, 1980–1986
• Cheng Yiu-tong, 1986–2000
• Wong Kwok-kin, 2000–2009
• Ng Chau-pei, 2009–2018
• Wong Kwok, 2018–present

Executive Council

• Wong Kwok-kin

Legislative Council

District Councils

National People's Congress

• Cheng Yiu-tong
• Ng Chau-pei

Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference

• Lam Shuk-yee
• Wong Kwok