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of the Hong Kong factory and labour legislation, which
includes the Factories and Workshops Ordinance 1937 and
the Trade Board Ordinance 1940. Trade Union legislation
is in existence and Workmen's Compensation legislation is
under consideration. It was thought during 1948/1949
that it would be necessary to use the Trade Boards Ordinance
to establish minimum wages in the weaving industry. These boards however appeal neither to Chinese employers nor workers, and reasonable conditions were in fact agreed by discussion.
The Trade Boards Ordinance has never been used.
There are in Hong Kong over 190 Trade Unions, of which five, with a total membership of over 5000, are specifically concerned with the textile industry. They have complete
freedom to negotiate their conditions of work with their
employers. The wages quoted above for the weaving section
of the textile industry were in fact fixed by agreement; the spinning section wages are fixed independently between
employers and workers.
•
in
Finally the Governor of Hong Kong has stated, in reply to the Secretary of State's circular despatch of 13.10.47 dealing with statutory minimum wage fixing, that although, as recommended by the Secretary of State, Hong Kong's policy is
and always has been to promote the use of voluntary negotiations and agreements as a means of settling conditions of employment,
he will not hesitate to use his powers under the Trade Boards
Ordinance where evidence shows that statutory regulation is
necessary or desirable.
4.
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