OCCUPATIONS, WAGES AND LABOUR ORGANIZATION
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were complaints from many of these workers of extra travelling expenses incurred by them as a result of the change in their workplace, the management granted them a travelling allowance of 40 cents a day, which was to cease after a period of sixteen months from the date of transfer. The allowance for the first group of workers moved to the new plant was discontinued in April 1958 without incident, and none was expected when that for the remaining workers affected ceased to be paid in November 1958. Strong objections to the cessation of the allowance were, however, raised in October by the Hong Kong & China Gas Co. Ltd. Chinese Employees' Association (T.U. 90), which also took the opportunity to raise various complaints regarding action taken by the management to remove anomalies which had arisen in the working of the agreement signed between the management and the workers' representatives in 1947. As the replies given on these matters by the management were considered unsatisfactory by the union, it ordered its members in both the Hong Kong and Kowloon works to take strike action. Work by employees other than retort men stopped on three occasions (18th and 25th October and 14th November) while negotiations with the management were taking place. After the commencement of strike action, a demand was also made by the union for pay for the period during which such action was taken. The management conceded that there might be some cases of genuine hardship caused by the discontinuation of the travelling allowance, and announced that it would therefore continue the allowance for all the workers concerned. Other concessions regarding medical treatment, over- time work on Sundays and the payment of a proportion of the Chinese New Year bonus to workers leaving the Company's service before the actual date of the New Year were also made. In spite of these concessions the dispute was not settled, as the union maintained its demand for pay for the strike period, but by the end of the year the position appeared to have improved. 249 man-days were lost by strike action during the year.
Gin Nih Weaving Factory, Tsuen Wan. This concern, which operated two factories with a total of 350 looms employing 375 workers, ran into financial difficulties early in the year, and went into part-time production in June. The proprietor failed to raise extra capital to keep going and announced the closure of both