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FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW
HONGKONG
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BY JENNIE WU
Hongkong: Old traditions die hard in
this Chinese city. Women are still treat- ed as an inferior species. Their husbands are still legally permitted to take concu- bines though reforms to end this abuse have been promised. In the industrial field, women workers suffer from gross exploitation. Their pay packets are sub- ly stantially less than those for men doing exactly the same work, and many women have to hold down more than one job to make ends meet.
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But now Hongkong's women workers are showing signs of rebellion. Their anger has been aroused by the govern ment's decision to relax the regulations governing night-work by Women and young people.
At a rally staged earlier this month, women workers protested that they face the break-up of their home life and still more exploitation by their employers because of the change in the law.
At the protest rally, the adminis- tration was denounced in bitter terms for "surrendering" to business interests. The women also denounced the unfair wage structure of Hongkong which they felt gave their male counterparts an un- justly large share of the cake. But they were not content to stick to their own grievances.
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They called for the immediate imple- mentation of a comprehensive public assistance scheme the first indication of any popular interest in the idea of effective welfare programmes to replace the present official subsistence relief schemes for those in distress.
The women are not standing alone in their fight for a square deal. They have won the backing of the 3,500-strong Cotton Workers' Union, the Christian Industrial Council, the International Metal Workers' Federation and the Textile Workers' Asian Regional Or- ganisation.
nt These bodies have lashed out at the government's "rash" action in an- nouncing changes in the laws on night- work without first consulting the women workers. The Trade Union Council has an sent a four-point memorandum to the Legislative Council accusing the authori- ties of "committing a contempt of human rights".
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