38
HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT
years, continued. During the year there were six minor strikes resulting in the loss of some 4,500 man-days. This total is lower than for any year since the war, except 1952 when only 195 man- days were lost, and compares very favourably with a post-war annual average of 75,480 man-days. Two of the strikes resulted from difficulties surrounding the introduction of three-shift systems in two textile factories and accounted for 3,000 of the man-days lost. Another strike had a political background, while two others resulted from alterations in conditions of employment by the management and ended in compromise settlements. One strike was caused by the dismissal, on disciplinary grounds, of a number of workers, together with dissatisfaction over terms of service, and resulted in concessions being made by the management.
Redundant Employees of H.M. Dockyard and the Armed Services. Discharges of civilian employees of H.M. Dockyard continued throughout the year. The phased run-down of the Dockyard started at the end of 1957 and it officially closed on 28th November 1959. During the year 1,913 workers were dis- charged, 28 on grounds other than redundancy, and 1,407 redun- dant workers found fresh employment in the same period; the great majority through the efforts of the Employment Liaison Office, set up on the advice of the Employment Advisory Com- mittee to assist with re-employment. The total run-down, excluding those discharged on grounds other than redundancy, up to the end of the year was 4,059 workers, of whom 3,324 or 82% were known to have secured new jobs. Help was also given by the Employment Liaison Office to Dockyard workers laid off in 1957 before the closure announcement, as well as to redundant civilian employees of the War Department and the Royal Air Force. During the year the Office helped 184 such workers to find new employment.
Groups of workers discharged from H.M. Dockyard continued to visit the Labour Department during the year to press for re- employment. The incidence of such visits rose at the time of the Dockyard closure and in the succeeding weeks, but the groups were orderly and tension was noticeably absent.
In January the naval authorities gave warning that the consider- ations which had given rise to the closure of H.M. Dockyard would