CO129-623-1 Rubber Industry- report and correspondence on the labour situation 1-4-1950 - 31-1-1951 — Page 34

Secretariat

L/M 538/50c No.141

CONFIDENTIAL

Sir,

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GOVERNMENT HOUSE,

HONG KONG.

29 December, 1950.

(10)

With reference to your savingram No. 1227 of the 27th November on the subject of the Fung Keong Rubber Factory, I have the honour to furnish comments on the report received by the Trades Union Council from the Hong Kong & Kowloon Trades Union Council. The allegations made in the report may shortly be summed up as:

I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

As a result of the visit by the I.C.F.T.U. delegation to the factory in July, 1950, and the information given on this occasion to its members regarding rates of pay, etc., in the factory, the employers:

VII.

(a)

first attempted piecemeal dismissal of workers, and when this failed because of the

(b) workers' opposition, closed entirely

on the 8th August, 1950, with the intention of breaking the spirit of the workers with a view to being able to resume work, paying lower rates.

That police were called in on behalf of the employer to assist him in a trade dispute.

That the number of workers involved was 1,700.

That although such action contravened Government regulations forbidding workers to strike and employers to lock out, no official action was taken against the employer inspite of his sudden closure of the factory.

That the I.C.F.T.U. delegation's visit was claimed by the local Communist newspapers as the immediate cause of the closure.

General allegations that the management were opposed to the formation of unions and that on resumption of work they would probably discrimin- ate against union representatives. That they had pursued the policy of setting off one union against another and that they were deliberately setting a pattern which other employers would be likely to follow.

That the closure was immediate and that absolutely no notice whatever was given to the workers.

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

JAMES GRIFFITHS, M.P.