HONG KONG
(Rate of Exchange - 14.5 Hong Kong Dollars to the £1)
On arrival in Hong Kong the delegation was met by a representative of the Labour Department of the Hong Kong Government and our colleague in Hong Kong, Mr. Leong Fook Kee.
After we had settled in the hotel we had the opportunity of a very general discussion with Mr. Tsuitim Fook, Senior Labour Officer, Labour Relations, and Mr. Leong Fook Kee. During the discussion we were able to obtain our bearings in respect of the industrial position in Hong Kong and apprise ourselves of the overall conditions in industry, with particular reference to the Hosiery and Knitwear in the colony. We were given a background to the factories and industrial undertakings and regulations, which is equivalent to our Factories Act, and the employment possibilities in Hong Kong, not only as it affected the Hosiery and Knitwear industry but industry in general terms.
Since there is no true industrial organisation in the colony there appears to be a more general acceptable approach to wages and conditions of employ- ment than one would find in more developed countries. We have, at the end of this section of the report on Hong Kong, tried to give an outline of the legislation covering industrial workers.
On the Sunday evening we had the opportunity of meeting our Trade Union colleagues who worked in the Textile Clothing Hosiery and Knitwear industries in the colony. They had kindly invited us to dinner and during the meal we were able to discuss the position and conditions in the Hosiery and Knitwear industry and had a very frank and free exchange of views which were most beneficial to us, particularly since these discussions took place before we had visited any factories or Government departments. It is quite obvious to us that our colleagues in Hong Kong have the same aspirations as any other worker in the world-security, decent wages, acceptable living conditions and congenial employment, than the facade which was presented to us subsequently, that if we were to accept what we were told in other quarters that all the Chinese worker wants to do is to work long hours at his industry this makes him a happy and contented being.
It was also obvious to us that here we had the nucleus of reasonable, intelligent people who given the opportunity, could do a great deal to enhance the position of the workpeople in the Textile industry in Hong Kong. All the people we met at this function made the point to us that they looked to the British Trade Union Movement and the British Government as the prime instigators to any improvement in their conditions of employment and they felt that without outside help and Government legislation, there was little hope for them to obtain a reasonable financial return for their labour.
In Hong Kong the free Trade Unions obtain no assistance from neither Government sources nor the employers in propogating the efficiency of the Trade Unions' standing in this country. Since the free Trade Unions receive no help whatsoever other than that provided by the various internationals, they have further difficulties in that Communist China pours considerable money
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