XN000022-1974-11-13 — Page 11

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1974.

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* REBUTTED ALLEGATIONS OF A WIDE GAP BETWEEN LABOUR AND MANAGEMENT IN HONG KONG, AND ASSURED COUNCILLORS THAT THE GOVERNMENT WELCOMED THE GROWTH OF A RESPONSIBLE TRADE UNION MOVEMENT-

* CREDITED THE RECENTLY-ENACTED LEGISLATION ON SEVERANCE

PAY WITH HAVING SO FAR HELPED TO PREVENT SERIOUS REDUNDANCY DISPUTES- AND

* STRESSED THAT HE CONSIDERED IT HIS DUTY, IN THE ABSENCE

AT PRESENT OF WIDE-SPREAD TRADE UNIONISM, TO ENSURE THAT LABOUR GETS A FAIR SHARE OF HONG KONG'S SUCCESS,

AND TO SEEK CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING CONDITIONS AND TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT.

MR. PRICE SAID THE LABOUR DEPARTMENT HAD INTRODUCED 87 PIECES OF LEGISLATION SINCE 1967, AND HE HOPED TO INTRODUCE ABOUT 12 MORE IN THE CURRENT SESSION.

HE NAMED NOVEMBER 27 AS THE DATE WHEN HE WOULD SEEK COUNCIL APPROVAL FOR A REGULATION TO REDUCE THE MAXIMUM PERMISSIBLE OVERTIME FOR WOMEN AND YOUNG CHILDREN FROM 300 TO 250 HOURS A YEAR FROM JANUARY 1 NEXT YEAR, AND TO 200 HOURS A YEAR FROM JANUARY 1, 1976.

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MR. PRICE SAID IT WAS NOT WIDELY KNOWN THAT PRACTICALLY ALL LABOUR LEGISLATION PREPARED BY HIS DEPARTMENT WAS FIRST CONSIDERED BY THE LABOUR ADVISORY BOARD, CONSISTING OF FOUR LABOUR AND FOUR MANAGEMENT REPRESENTATIVES, UNDER HIS CHAIRMANSHIP.

PAYING TRIBUTE TO THE BOARD'S +HARD WORK AND INVALUABLE ADVICE, HE SAID IT WAS A CREDIT TO MEMBERS' PRAGMATISM THAT THEY HAD NEARLY ALWAYS REACHED UNANIMOUS AGREEMENT.

ON THE SUBJECT OF LABOUR RELATIONS, MR. PRICE POINTED OUT THAT INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES RECEIVED FRONT-PAGE HEADLINES WHEN A DISPUTE BROKE OUT, AND TWO LINES - IF THAT ON AN INSIDE PAGE WHEN IT HAD BEEN SETTLED.

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+THIS, OF COURSE, IS A FACT OF LIFE, BUT IT MEANS THE WHOLE IMAGE OF HONG KONG'S LABOUR RELATIONS TENDS TO BE DISTORTED IN THE PUBLIC EYE, HE SAID.

+IN FACT, THE NUMBER OF LABOUR STOPPAGES CAUSED BY INDUSTRIAL ACTION IN HONG KONG IS ONE OF THE LOWEST IN THE WORLD. SO FAR THIS YEAR, A POST-WAR LOW HAS BEEN ACHIEVED.

THIS YEAR'S VERY LOW FIGURES ARE LARGELY ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE REALISTIC ATTITUDE ADOPTED BY HONG KONG'S HARD-WORK | NG LABOUR FORCE IN THE PRESENT DIFFICULT WORLD TRADING CONDITIONS.

+THE OVERALL GOOD INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS SITUATION HAS BEEN ACHIEVED BECAUSE OF A REMARKABLE DEGREE OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES, WHO CONTRIBUTE SO MUCH TO OUR ECONOMIC PROGRESS.

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