CONFIDENTIAL
16 -
"We are quite sympathetic with the difficulties,
plight and hardship being faced by our unemployed fellow workers and hope that they would unite and organise among themselves with a view to seeking employment from the Hong Kong British authorities
the unemployed workers should realise that neither sitting idly at home nor asking for assistance from others would provide them with employment."
...
38. It would seem likely on balance that there does in fact exist a large body of workers either unemployed or in temporary or inferior work whose sense of grievance could be worked upon. Some of that sense of grievance might of course be directed against those who brought them out on strike and the very serious efforts being made by the Left Wing groups to provide assistance for them lends weight to this supposition. Special measures by
the Hong Kong Government to help these 'ex-strikers' would not easily be understood by the population who have suffered from their withdrawal of labour (e.g. through transport hardships). Efforts to register them specially would, moreover, give rise to the suspicion or accusation that they were being identified for punitive action or police surveillance. The problem is there,
but it is not easy to see any reasonable solution. Should there be a large-scale request for their jobs back, there would be serious difficulties, since in a very large number of cases either replacements have been engaged or the workers were surplus anyway due to the difficulties placed in the way of declaring redundancies by the Left Wing Unions.
Conclusion
39. I am most grateful to H. E. the Governor for his hospitality and kindness during my visit, and for the co- operation and help I received on all sides, in particular from the Commissioner of Labour and his staff.
Commonwealth Office,
17 November, 1967.
Governor, Hong Kong Commonwealth Office
G. Foggon
Overseas Labour Adviser
Distribution
8
Ministry of Labour Ministry of Overseas
2
2
Development
CONFIDENTIAL