of, for instance, women and children; enquiries regarding wages; advising trade unions on matters of organisation and finance; and, in co-operation with the legal department, the constant review of labour legislation to meet local needs and to attain accepted international standards.
Labour Advisory Board
In labour matters generally and particularly with regard to legislative proposals affecting labour, the Government is assisted by a Labour Advisory Board. The Board is con- stituted on a tripartite basis. The Commissioner of Labour is ex-officio Chairman and there are nine members represent- ing the interests of European Employers, Chinese Employers and Chinese Labour respectively.
Seamen's Recruitment Committee
A Seamen's Recruitment Committee was appointed in June 1949, to consider all aspects of recruitment and supply of seamen of Chinese race and to report to Govern- ment thereon. The Committee is constituted on a tripartite basis in the same way as the Labour Advisory Board. The Commissioner of Labour is the Chairman and there are nine members: one member is the Director of Marine or his representative and the other eight represent the interests. of European and Chinese Shipping Companies, and Chinese. Seamen's organisations. The investigation has not yet been completed.
Legislation
The aim of labour legislation in Hong Kong is to implement as far as practicable the standards of the International Labour Code and to give effect to ad hoc measures which are necessary to meet specific local needs. There is thus legislation to give effect to international labour conventions on the minimum age of employment in industry and at sea, on the night work of women and young persons, on underground work for women, on medical examinations of young persons before employment at sea, on minimum- wage fixing machinery, on seamen's articles of agreement, and on unemployment indemnity in case of shipwreck. Legislative measures which affect labour directly or indirectly are contained in the Factories and Workshops Ordinance, 1937; the Employers and Servants Ordinance, 1902; the Asiatic Emigration Ordinance, 1915; the Female Domestic Service Ordinance, 1923; the Industrial and Reformatory Schools: Ordinance, 1932; the Trade Unions and Trade Disputes Ordinance, 1948; and the Illegal Strikes and Lock- outs Ordinance, 1949.
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