undeclared boycott of communist stores which sell exclusively chinese products by the general public. Presently almost every store seems to be deserted.
The first Government "get tough" policy appeared on 1st June in the form of an Emergency Regulation, prohibiting the display of inflammatory postars. The communists showed their first sign of defiance against the law by organising the stoppage of work in the Marine Department in protest against the removal of posters from the Dockyard. When warnings about inflammatory posters want unheeded, the Marine Department suspended over 500 of its employees. This action, taken by a government department, was soon followed by the Star Ferry Company in usponding without pay all the ferry staff who have defied warnings and gone out on strike. Similiar suspension and dismissal actions were also taken by the Government Waterworks Department, gas, Power & Light, the transport companies and textiles factories. Up to today more than 8,000 communist agitators and trouble-makers have been dismissed.
The Work Security Committee organised in every Branch of CIWOUH had proved to be an effective measure to resist the communist political pressure. This so-called Work Security Committee is made up of Branch Union leaders of CIWGUH and the active "neutral" workers within the mill. In every floor or where applicable, in every section of the textile mill, we have a member of the Work Security Committee looking after the interest of the workers in that floor or section. The primary functions of the committee are :
(a) To collect informations on communist activities within the mill. (b) To expose any communist plot to disrupt the textile industry
and the livelihood of the workers with it.
(c) To organise collective actions to protect our members and
the "neutral" workers who had refused to join in the communist political strike.
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In establishing the Work Security Committees in every Branch of CIVGUT, it is our intention to make use of such committees, at some futurc dates, to help revive or re-establish many of those Branches which had romained inactive in the past. This is an attempt to instil into the large majority of unorganised workers the importance and strongth of collective actions.
In response to the current crisis, much emphasis and
interest have boon focussed on the future plans for social progress in the Colony by civic leaders, many of whom are employers themselves. Though Government response to social progress is not taking place as we desire, we are glad to hear that the Government and the employers have now realised that Hongkong cannot construct a geniunoly stable edifice of mosperity and well-being on a foundation of social inequity and labour discontent.
Any attempt to do so will in the long run prove harmful to the community, though it may in the short term generate wealth for the few and procent the appearance of a flourishing economy said the editorial of the longkong Standard, a leading English-language newspaper hero.
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Recognising the fact that social and economic factors had played an important part in the causer of the recent die tuzkicus, The. China Mail (another loading nglish Evoning newspaper) called for