CO129-626-3 Labour Department- report to Labour Commissioner 1-3-1951 - 30-6-1952 — Page 47

1

The Hon. B. C. K. Hawkins Esquiro. 0.B. E.,

Commissioner of Labour,

Hong Kong.

36

Sir,

1.

Service,

I was seconded by the Ministry of Labour and National

t the request of the Secretary of State for the Colonies and with the consent of the Government of Hong Kong to advise you on labour problems with the following terms of reference;

"To consult with and advise the Commissioner of

Labour on labour problems"

I now have the honour of submitting my report and venture to express the hope that this survey of labour problems in Hong Kong and the various recommendations and proposals made therein will prove to be useful.

2.

I arrived in Hong Kong on Tuesday 5th December 1950 and leave for the United Kingdom early in April

3.

Throughout my stay in the Colony I have been afforded every possible facility to sco and examine conditions of employment in all types of industry, to ascertain something of the desirees and aspir- ations of the workers and to discuss labour problems with employers. I am indeed grateful to you and all the members of the staff under your control for the assistance and help which has always been so readily given to me. I am also indebted to Mr. E. M. Hunt Labour Att- acho China for information regarding social security legislation enacted by the People's Republic of China and for recent information regarding trade unionism in China,

4+*

The difficulties confronting those who seek to solve Hong Kong's labour problems are considerable. To analyse and appreciate the present situation in the Colony has been by no means easy and would have been appreciably more difficult had I not had the constant benefit of your wide local knowledge and experience.

5.

The table of contents to this report may be taken as a general summary of the principal labour problems of the Colony and as the report may be read by some who have no close and intimate knowledge of Hong Kong I have gone into greater descriptive detail than would otherwise have been necessary. Wherever I have suggested the early enactment of new or the amendment of existing legislation I have included a appropriate draft for consideration either in the body of other report or as an appendix thereto.

6.

I.

INTRODUCTION.

The island of Hong Kong, the Chinese characters for which can be translated as "Good Harbour" is situated off the coast of the Chinese province of Kwangtung nor the delta of the Pearl River. It is about 40 miles from the Portuguese Colony of Macau and nearly 90 miles from Canton, the provincial capital of Kwangtung. The total area of the Colony, including Kowloon, and the leased territories, is about 390 square miles. Most of the area is hilly and does not lend itself to cultivation, but that which is arables intensively culti- vated.

7.

As a result of unsettled conditions in China since the end of the war and the more reccnt Communist victories resulting eventually in the occupation of the whole of the mainland of China by the armies