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officials: but the Hong Kong Government have maintained that practice in these respects is more liberal than the letter of the law suggests. We are in touch with the Hong Kong Labour Department to see if ways can be found to bring the law in line with current practice. We suspect that deep sociological, economic and political factors militating against normal growth and activities of a trade union movement are at work and a study by Professor Turner, Burton Professor of Industrial Relations at Cambridge, has been commissioned to investigate matters further. The study is to be low-profile and academic in character in order to obtain the maximum co-operation from industrialists in Hong Kong.

The

Arreinar adorsed this

рата

Conclusions

23. To summarise, we think there is scope for progress along the following lines:

(i) Labour

In the field of labour legislation to achieve conditions in Hong Kong at least up to the best Asian equivalent (excluding Japan) within 5 years. This should include:

(a)

(b)

(c)

흐흐

(a)

(e)

(f)

(g)

(h)

the provision of one rest day a week to manual workers by 1 January 1977;

better provision for statutory holidays with pay by 1 January 1977;

provision for statutory holidays with pay by

1 January 1978;

the prohibition of employment of minors under 14 by 1979 and under 15 by 1980;

a wider coverage of safety regulations;

improved sickness benefit and redundancy payments; further consideration to be given to the introduction of statutory minimum wages for low paid occupations;

consideration to be given to the introduction of

limitations on the hours of work of adult males

and of statutory provision for overtime rates.

In addition, more rapid progress should be made by Hong Kong in the application of ILO Conventions. Hong Kong's record in this respect will continue to be subject to regular ministerial

review.

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