(85261) Hw.
NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN.
152
Registry No.
Top Secret. Secret. Confidential. Restricted. Open.
Draft. LETTER/
Pha
"(148)
To:
Insert Telephone No. & Ext.
when appropriate.
Ernest Thornton, Esq., M.P.
Thank
you
I am ting in reply to your letter of
8 February about the problem of overtime in
Hong Kong.
1872.
7.
Let me say at once that I find your
Indeed
concern perfectly understandable. I was my-
self most reluctant
first put to me
-
when the proposal was
to accept the need for the
proposed extension of permitted overtime.
There were, however, three arguments to which
I felt bound to give full weight.
B.
The first was the need to carry local
employers with us if widespread evasion was to
to be avoided. There is a strong inspectorate;
but, with more than 10,000 registered establish-
ments to cover, they are more than fully
stretched.
ما
Secondly (and perhaps more important) was
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