A number of other smaller strikes occurred, but these do not merit individual mention.
In the latter half of the year the Department had to deal with a number of Shanghai seamen from ships which were laid up owing to lack of business consequent upon the civil war in China and the Nationalist blockade. In two cases the owners made offers of a month's wages, food allowance and repatriation to Shanghai or free food, quarters on board, and half wages. Both offers were refused, the men making demands for much greater benefits. Later as a result of pressure brought to bear in Shanghai, which included threats of kidnapping, the directors of one Chinese shipping company were compelled to pay a sum equivalent to four months' wages, maintenance for the seamen in Hong Kong and repatriation to Shanghai. Other cases, where the men were prepared to accept a reasonable offer, were settled more equitably.
As previously stated, demands for a 'special' cost of living allowance had by the end of the year brought about a state of considerable unrest in the utility companies. The allowance demanded was in most cases equivalent to about $3 a day, which is approximately equal to the present cost of living allowance and to the basic pay of a large number of workers. Payment of the 'special' allowance, if granted in full, would therefore result in a 50% increase in earnings for
a large section of the workers in these companies. Negotiations on this demand, in the case of the Tramway Company and in all other cases,
cases, were inconclusive with regard to the 'special' allowance. Workers in the Tramway Company were the first to take direct action and on 24th December staged what amounted to a 'go-slow' strike- that is, they continued to run their cars, but at a reduced speed and without collecting any fares from passengers. This state of affairs continued over the Christmas holidays, the populace (apart from season ticket holders) enjoying it to the full. On the morning of the 28th December the management refused to allow any of the cars to leave the depôt and, at the same time, dismissed the conductors con- cerned but not other members of the traffic staff. The latter, however, refused work in sympathy with the conduc- tors. Since that date the trams have not been running, causing grave inconvenience to a very large section of the community. The management of the Tramway Company, before the breakdown of negotiations, offered to submit the demand for the special allowance to arbitration, but by the end of the year this had not been accepted by their employees. Other utility companies in which demands had been made or were pending by the end of the year included the Telephone Company, the Dairy Farm, the China Motor Bus Company, the Kowloon Motor Bus Company, and the
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