:
44
57.
In submitting this report containing various proposals I am well aware of the fact that there is no complete cure for industrial dissatisfaction. The problems of "Industrial Relations" are more difficult and complex than they appear to be. With relative wealth on the one hand and comparative poverty on the other, unhappiness and dissatisfaction are readily engendered. It is because of this that it is so easy for agitators to stir up trouble and cause hostility which so readily develops amongst those who are, in the material sense, unsuccessful. Various strata with progressive wage or salary scales are essential to encourage those who are capable of contributing more to the material success of the community or of assuming higher res- ponsibilities. The prizes of life even the minor ones are said to humiliate those for whom they are not intended.
58.
Greater equality would tend to destroy initiative and dis- courage ambition in those capable of doing the most good in the public interest. Greater parity between the wage rates of skilled, semi- skilled and unskilled workers would inevitably reduce the incentive which exists for young men to learn a trade or develop higher skill. On the other hand law wage rates leading to unsatisfactory living standards for appreciable number sof the population and an absence of
security
rely create conditions in which communism can therein, thrive.
59.
The proposals I have made regarding Joint Consultation, Works Committee, Whitley Machinery, an Interim Joint Council for Government employees and training within Industry, are useful measures in themselves and are well worth adoption. They should develop eff- iciency, increase output and improve harmony. Such schemes tend to remove those doubts and suspicions which pervert the worker's outlook and alienate his sentiments and good will towards his employers, but I do not put them forward as a cure of industrial discontent; they are merely palliatives.
50.
In this connection, however, it cannot be too strongly emphasised that a happy and contented labour force develops under firm and enlightened management, and there is a limit to what any Government can do to ensure contentment in industry.
61.
The majority of the workers in Hong Kong who are in wage caring employment are indeed fortunate in that their wage levels and living standards are higher than those enjoyed by the peoples of most adjacent territories, but there is still much to be done by way of improvement in conditions. of employment. The achievement of those very desirable ends, uniformity and stability of wage rates and conditions of employment, should be a constant aim of policy; with- out these industrial tranquillity is improbable.
62."
In putting forward various proposals in this report for improving conditions of employment and instituting security for the workers I appreciate that, in these days of financial stringency, first things must come first and such matters as adequate educational facilities, housing and water supply must have the priority which they warrant and deserve even if this means that other desirable reforms and improvements have to be postponed. On the other hand I feel that it would be unwise unduly to defor commencing action directed towards social security merely on account of financial considerations. Adjacent countries are progressing along these lines and Hong Kong cannot afford to lag behind.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.