XN000022-1974-04-27 — Page 6

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SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 1974.

NEARLY 800 WORKING DAYS LOST IN JAN-MARCH

FIGURE LOW COMPARED WITH OTHER AREAS

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SIX STOPPAGES OF WORK INVOLVING 487 INDUSTRIAL WORKERS WERE REPORTED TO THE LABOUR RELATIONS SERVICE OF THE LABOUR DEPARTMENT DURING THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE YEAR.

THE HEAD OF THE LABOUR RELATIONS SERVICE, MR. TSUI TIM- FOOK, SAID TODAY ALL THE DISPUTES HAD BEEN SETTLED. THEY HAD RESULTED IN A LOSS OF 799 WORKING DAYS.

MR. TSUI SAID THAT THIS WAS THE FIRST OCCASION ON WHICH THE LABOUR DEPARTMENT HAD ISSUED FIGURES ON INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES IN THIS FORM. IN DOING SO, IT WAS BRINGING ITS PRACTICE IN THE PUBLISHING OF DISPUTES FIGURES INTO LINE WITH THAT USED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND ELSEWHERE. HE SAID THE METHOD AIMED AT CALCULATING THE IMPACT OF STOPPAGES IN TERMS OF WORKERS INVOLVED AND WORKING DAYS LOST.

THE TERM +STOPPAGES+ COVERED ALL, STOPPAGES OF WORK, WHETHER DUE TO STRIKE OR LOCKOUT, WHICH RELATED TO DISPUTES CONNECTED WITH TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT,

+IN KEEPING WITH OVERSEAS PRACTICE, ALL STOPPAGES INVOLVING TEN OR MORE WORKERS AND LASTING A DAY OR MORE ARE CONSIDERED, + HE SAID." STOPPAGES INVOLVING FEWER THAN TEN WORKERS OR LASTING LESS THAN ONE DAY ARE INCLUDED IF THE AGGREGATE OF WORKING DAYS LOST EXCEEDS 100.

+WORKING ON THIS BASIS, THE QUARTERLY AVERAGE OF WORKING DAYS LOST IN HONG KONG FOR THE PAST TEN YEARS IS 9.338. OF COURSE THE FIGURES FLUCTUATE FROM YEAR TO YEAR AND QUARTER TO QUARTER, AND IN ANY GIVEN QUARTER THE FIGURE CAN BE DISTORTED BY ONE MAJOR STOPPAGE.

+BUT LAST QUARTER'S FIGURES OF 799 WORKING DAYS LOST MUST BE CONSIDERED AS VERY LOW.+

MR. TSUI POINTED OUT THAT HONG KONG'S RECORD OF STOPPAGES WAS VERY GOOD. LAST YEAR ONLY 40 WORKING DAYS WERE LOST PER 1,000 EMPLOYEES.

+IN FACT, HONG KONG IS ONE OF THE FIVE INDUSTRIALISED TERRITORIES IN THE WORLD WELL KNOWN FOR THEIR LOW RATIO OF WORKING DAYS LOST THROUGH INDUSTRIAL ACTION, + MB. TSUI SAID. +THE OTHER FOUR COUNTRIES ARE SWITZERLAND, WEST GERMANY, SINGAPORE AND SWEDEN. +

MR. TSUI SAID THAT THE LABOUR RELATIONS SERVICE WOULD IN FUTURE ISSUE STOPPAGE FIGURES ON A QUARTERLY BASIS.

HE ADDED ..