wagco below the market rate since labour is generally
.mobile.
: (a) Workers in a position to negotiate for higher
wages including Vietnamese refugees and immigrants
In Hong Kong the forces of supply and demand work well in the labour market and generally the rate of increase in wages is rapid; in fact, more rapid than the
growth rate of per capita output in money terms in a
tight labour market. It was unfortunate that the influx
of immigrants and refugees had the effect of slowing down the rate of increase in wage rates in the past
two years.
Vietnamese boat people and former illegal immigrants may well be earning wages less than the market rates, but this would be because of poorer skills rather than the lack of bargaining power. (e)ocial wage' #
Given that the growth rate of public sector
expenditure has been consistently higher than that of the GDP, and that a large (and probably increasing)
proportion of public expenditure is aimed at improving
the "social wage", it follows that inequality in the
society, to whatever extent it existed, must have been
diminishing. Many developing countries also look upon a "social wage" as another form of trade protectionism. During the Second Tripartite Technical Meeting on the Clothing Industry held in Geneva last September/October
by the ILO, the governments of India, the Philippines and Thailand expressed either objection to, or
"
reservation about, the inclusion of a "social clause" in the conclusions of the sub-committee on the Employment
effects in the Clothing Industry of changes in International
Trade.
(f) Labour mobility
Present market forces and the mobility of labour
are generally adequate to ensure that less efficient
firms will release labour to new and diversifying enterprises.. However, the stratification and segmentation of labour
and the diversity of pay systems and fringe benefits
may have the effect of restricting labour mobility to
sume extent.