A joint cooperation agreement was signed by the leaders of HKCTU and the Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions (TCTU) on June 30, 2001. Fifteen delegates from the TCTU, including the President, Huang Ching-hsien and the Deputy General Secretary, Chiu Yu-bin, arrived in Hong Kong on June 27 to begin a 4-day exchange visit with HKCTU. This followed preparatory exchange visits earlier in the year.

The visit concluded with the signing of a 'sisterhood agreement', formalising institutional ties and mutual support between the independent trade union movements in Hong Kong and Taiwan. This comes a year after the TCTU gained legal recognition as Taiwan's first independent trade union federation, ending the monopoly control of the Kuomintang (KMT)-controlled Chinese Federation of Labour (CFL).

The joint agreement declares that HKCTU and TCTU will ensure close cooperation and solidarity in pursuing common goals, including:

* a commitment to send delegations on regular exchange visits and to share information and experiences concerning management-labour relations in the global economy

* cooperating in trade union education and organising joint labour education programs

* a commitment to monitor worker and trade union rights and working conditions in transnational corporations (TNCs) operating in China and Southeast Asia

* continued support for the struggles of free and independent trade union movements in the region

* a common agenda for building unity and solidarity among union movements in East Asia

* solidarity with the international trade union movement

The text of the agreement concludes that this unity and solidarity is necessary to confront the challenges of globalisation, declaring that:

"Workers' unity is our weapon!"

The Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions (TCTU) has a membership of 270,000 and is Taiwan's first independent federation of labour unions. The autonomous trade union movement grew rapidly following the creation of the first county-level trade union federation in 1994, the Taipei County Federation of Industrial Unions. Despite the government's claim that the new federation was illegal, it gained legal recognition locally and was followed by the creation of autonomous federations in 11 other counties and cities. In 1997 the new county-level trade unions began preparing the formation of a new national federation. A mass rally of 25,000 workers was organised by the TCTU preparatory committee on May 1, 1998.

Although the government rejected TCTU's registration application in February 2000, the election of the Democratic Progressive Party's Chen Shui-bian as President in March led to a change in policy. In April the TCTU was registered by the government, and on May 1, 2000, it was officially established.

Link> Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions (TCTU)