OCCUPATIONS, WAGES AND LABOUR ORGANIZATION
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on three 8-hour shifts (14 mills having changed over from a 2-shift to a 3-shift system during the year) and 57 weaving mills and 1 silk spinning mill had adopted the same system of work. In addi- tion, 1 garment factory had adopted a system of two 8-hour shifts, and some 10 other garment and glove factories had indicated that they would change to this system after the Chinese New Year at the end of January 1960. In public utility companies the system of three 8-hour shifts is also used. There were no significant changes during the year in hours of work in non-industrial occupations.
1
Rest periods varying between half an hour and three hours a day are usually given, and this is invariably the case where hours of work exceed eight a day. Daily rest periods over the whole of industry average 1 hour for both men and women. The weekly rest day, where given, is usually Sunday, except in concerns where continuous production must be maintained and rest days are accordingly arranged in rotation. They are usually unpaid. A large proportion of male workers in local manufacturing industry do not enjoy a regular rest day, but where this is the case it is customary for them to be granted leave without pay on request. The new regulations restricting the hours of work for women and young persons and providing for a weekly rest day, although not applicable to male workers, have, in certain cases where men and women are employed in the same industrial processes, brought about corresponding reductions in the hours of work for men.
Cost of Living. The average monthly figure of the Retail Price Index during the year was 9 points higher than the corresponding figure in 1958. Bad weather conditions in the Colony and in China, culminating in abnormally severe storms and flooding in June, restricted both the production and marketing of many foodstuffs, the prices of which in consequence stayed at a high level until the end of October. The Index for September (132) was the highest recorded for any month since the war. The average of the Index for the year was 126.
The following table shows the fluctuations which occurred in the officially published Retail Price Index during the year:
January February
March...
April
:
125
128
130
128