young persons employed in industry. This programme will, by 1st December, 1971, reduce the maximum standard of the working day to that of 8 hours and a 48 hour week. The programme entered the second phase on 1st December, 1968 when the maximum number of hours for a standard working week became 54. The maximum daily working hours of young persons age 14 and 15 are not affected by the programme and remain at 8 hours per day, these hours to be worked between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. Young persons aged 16 and 17 and women aged 18 and over may normally work only between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. but with prior approval of the Commissioner of Labour, they may work one hour overtime up to 9 p.m. The maximum number of hours overtime so allowed at present is 200 per year.
There are no statutory restrictions on the hours of work for male workers aged 18 years and over. The standard working day is normally one of 8 hours and there is movement in the colony at the present time for more factories to adopt the system of 3-8 hour shifts. With the exception of certain trades, the number of normal work days per month for male workers is 30. Most male industrial workers work 26-28 days per month; young persons and women are given one rest day in every seven days except where continuous production is demanded because of the product and then the rest day is on a rota basis with Sunday as the usual rest day. In those factories where male workers do not receive the rest day it is customary to grant them unpaid leave on request.
By statute, workers in industrial establishments are given six days annual holiday per year and sickness allowance of up to 12 days per year is paid.
Trade Unions
Trade Union activity in Hong Kong is very limited. At the end of 1968 there were 318 registered Trade Unions and the majority of these Unions are operated or assisted by either the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions or the Hong Kong and Kowloon Trades Union Council. It is obvious that there should be a rationalisation of the Trade Union in the colony but here as in other countries, it is difficult because of certain fixed interests--political, religious and dialect problems. It is due to the proliferation of Trade Unions that organised opposition to the conditions of employment in the colony has not borne fruit and it would seem that encouragement by a Colonial Government could do much to strengthen Trade Union movement in the colony and thus give added protection to the workpeople and considerable impetus to the economic well-being of the colony.
Hong Kong has relatively few industrial disputes. In 1968 the Labour Department dealt with 2,954 disputes. Altogether there were 24 strikes and the number of man days lost in all disputes through the year was 8,432.
Assessment of Labour available
Since Hong Kong's economy depends upon its manufacturing industry, one must assume that this dependence will continue. It must be accepted that there will be growth in the working population in the manufacturing industries over the next few years. It is anticipated that the working population in the manu- facturing industries will increase by 1981 to a figure of 954,000.
Although Hong Kong has not a large number of unemployed people, there are, as we saw, a great number of people under-employed and with the
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