Curtis Green,
HWB 18/6
152
22 February, 1968.
Thank you for your letter of 8 February about the problem of overtime in Hong Kong.
Let me say at once that I find your concern perfectly understandable. Indeed, I was myself most reluctant when the proposal was first put to me - to accept the need for the proposed extension of permitted overtime. were, however, three arguments to which I felt bound to give full weight..
There
The first was the need to carry local employers with us if widespread evasion is to be avoided. There is a strong inspectorate; but, with more than 10,000 registored establishments to cover, they are more than fully stretched.
Secondly (and perhaps more important) is the need to avoid a fall in the workers' incomes. Public opinion had stood up very well to recent events. But those on the spot qualified to judge advised me that any fall in incomes would be badly received and might give the communist unions an industrial opening for further trouble. The whole emphasis in the new arrangements was therefore on flexibility. As regards your proposal for compensatory wage payments, there is of course no legislative basis for any such changes in wage rates to be introduced by the Government of Hong Kong.
Thirdly, I was given an assurance that the Commissioner of Labour would be keeping a close watch
ERNEST THORNTON, ESQ., MBE, MP.
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