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IV. Fluctuation of Employment
V.
1.
2.
The restraints placed on textile exports to various countries are the main causes of fluctuations in employment.
In place of monthly figures of employment in the clothing industry, quarterly employment returns for the years 1961 to 1966 are given
in Table C
attached.
3. Hours of overtime worked by quarters from 1961 to 1966 are given
in Table D attached, while Table E shows overtime worked by women in the clothing industry in 1966.
4. General lay-offs do not occur as a rule as this is an expanding
industry. There are bursts of increased production to meet shipment
dates and seasonal demands.
5.
1
Table F shows details of annual employment indices in the clothing manufacturing industry since 1958.
The results of the Labour Department's annual wage surveys indicate that overtime is usually paid to daily-rated workers at time and a quarter, to time and three quarters. Piece-rated workers are paid at the same rates but monthly workers are usually given time-off in
lieu of extra pay.
Tables G and H attached show wages, hours of work and overtime rates for manual workers in the knitting and garments and shirts industries. There was a noticeable increase during the year 1965-66 in wages in the manufacturing industry in general in which the cotton textile and clothing industries shared.
It is estimated
that the general increase in manufacturing industries was 7% over the wage level in 1964-65.
2. Table I shows the wage structure in the knitting and garment
industries for September 1966 while Table J shows the average monthly
earnings in:
the garments and shirts industry the knitted piece goods industry
the cotton weaving industry
the cotton spinning industry
for each year since 1959.
VI. Conditions of Work
1. Wage rates are normally fixed by agreement between employers and
workers, and are usually calculated on daily or monthly basis or on piece rates. It is customary for daily-rated and piece-workers to be paid at weekly or half-monthly intervals but other intervals are occasionally used.
2.
No statistics are available to show the proportion of workers
/on time-rates