•
ROUND-UP MEETING WITH MR. HARRY HURST, OVERSEAS LABOUR ADVISOR, HELD AT GOVERNMENT HOUSE ON THURSDAY, 2 MARCH
1978 AT 9.30 A.M.
Present :
H E
C S
Overseas Labour Adviser (Mr. Hurst)
S for SS
C For L
PS/GH
H E explained that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss issues and points of particular interest to Mr. Hurst during his visit to Hong Kong.
Mr. Hurst said that he would be preparing his report on the visit upon his return to UK. Basically he was pleased with the way his visit had been organised. He was impressed by the organisation and staff of the Labour Department, the good public relations it apparently now enjoyed with the industrial sector, the progress made in labour legislation and the attention paid to ILO conventions. In particular, he had been pleased to note the views on both sides of industry that labour legislation was effectively enforced in Hong Kong as compared with the cosmetic appearances of similar laws elsewhere in the region.
Mr. Hurst then proceeded to raise the following points
for discussion :
1. Labour and Factory Inspectorates
Mr. Hurst hoped that the work being done on the child labour front would continue and that the proposed increase in the labour inspectorate would enable a tighter watch.
In reply to
HE he said that he felt the staff proposals contemplated by the
The only point for Labour Department would be quite adequate.
concern was whether the quality of recruits to the factory inspectorate could be improved from school certificate level possibl
C for L said that to Polytechnic or even University graduates.
this point had been raised during a recent visit by HE to the Labour Department and he generally agreed that improvement in the
He agreed that calibre of the inspectorate staff was desirable.
the Polytechnic would provide the right level of qualification needed for the expanded role of his inspectorates, particularly in relation to needs created as a result of the new towns.
H E addd