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issued by the council of the local Press Society criticised this incident as unwarranted interference with the freedom of the press and this in turn has brought forth a further spate of attacks in the left-wing press accusing the society of being a "U.S./CHIANG dominated body". The two leading left-wing dailies are members of the society but they are not represented on the council.
4.
The dispute came to a sudden end on 21 April with each side making certain concessions, the basis for agreement being that, as the firm was closing anyway, the supervisor (one of the main purchasers of the taxis) would be formally dismissed. Both left and right-wing press claimed a victory, the left-wing because the object of having the supervisor dismissed had been achieved, while the right-wing pointed out that the left-wing drivers had been thrown out of work and right-wing or neutral drivers had become owners of their own taxis.
5.
The dispute in Kowloon dated back to the dismissal in January of a left-wing driver, also for inefficiency. (L.I.C. Report for January, paragraph 7 refers). The M.T.U. made representations to the management at the time, but subsequently allowed the matter to drop. Un 1 April in sympathy with counterparts on Hong Kong Island they decided to resuscitate the affair and threatened a "go slow" if he were not reinstated. The management agreed to re-employ him but would only accept him as a "new" driver with no accumulated benefits, a condition which was not acceptable to the union. A "go slow" started on 14 April and takings were reduced to some 10% of normal; this apparently perturbed union officials who directed that the drivers should not make less than 25% of normal as they did not want the firm to follow the example of its fellow in Hong Kong and close down. On 22 April, following the settlement of the Hong Kong Island dispute, the M.T.U. called off the "go slow" as a condition for the management considering the re-instatement of the dismissed driver. At a meeting held in the Labour Department on 25 April, after some spirited haggling between the management and the K.T.U. the former agreed to re-instate the driver with his accumulated benefits intact, but with certain undertakings with regard to his future conduct. Thereafter business returned to normal. Ho ever, at the end of the month a third taxi company owned by the same family was closed, following negotiations for the sale of the taxis to the drivers the majority of whom were right-wing or neutral. There had been no dispute in this company and it appears that the family concerned is endeavouring to withdraw completely from this part of its manifold business operations.
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6.
There has been no settlement in the dispute at the Nan Fung Textile Factory (L.I.C. Monthly Internal Intelligence Report for March 1967, paragraph 3 refers). For the first three days of the month the left-wing Spinning Weaving and Dyeing Trade General Union (S..D.T.G.U.) (claimed membership, 5,765; paid up membership, 3,623) became more active and groups of workers visited the factory several times a day; while representatives were seeing the management, other workers remained outside chanting the Thoughts of MAO Tse-tung. During one such visit on 3 April, a reporter from a right-wing paper, who had been taking photographs, was chased when he refused to hand over his film to the "workers". He took refuge in the Police Traffic Office, Tsuen Wan, where a crowd of some sixty gathered and remained for over an hour. Apart from a visit by a small group of Union officials to Tsuen Wan Police Station some days later to demand that the films be handed over, the matter has not been taken any further. Since then the Union's activities have been confined to infrequent calls at the factory by a small group of Union officials. However, visits to the Union premises by comfort parties of workers from other factories have continued. The
/management
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