TNAG-0005-FCO40-41-Departmental-briefs-about-Hong-Kong-1968 — Page 20

SECRET

T

e Unions

Wage Rates

Hours of Work

35. With the exception of a small neutral and independent segment, workers' unions are organised into two political groups the Federation of Trade Unions (communist and Peking controlled) and the Trade Union Council (K.M.T. dominated). The number of unions sympathetic to the T.U.C. far exceeds those adhering to the F.T.U., but both the declared and estimated paid up membership figures of the T.U.C. are in fact substantially lower. Only occasionally do these two bodies and their constituent unions function

as effective industrial organisations and then never in concert since co-operation between them is out of the question. They refuse in fact to sit at the same table. Attempts to improve the trade union structure have failed in spite of the Hong Kong Government's efforts to promote trade union education and the efforts of some international

trade union organisations.

36. The index of wage rates has more than doubled since 1959 (1958 = 100; 1967 = 203) and as the cost of living index has risen much more slowly, real wages have risen over the period (by an estimated 75%). Any direct comparison of Hong Kong wage rates with those in developed countries can be misleading owing to differences in the general tax structure. Shortage of skilled and semi- skilled labour plus competition among employers rather than trade union pressures tend to keep wages rising steadily.

37. At present, as in Britain, there are no legal restrictions on the hours of work for men, but the hours they work are in many industries affected by the legal restrictions imposed on the hours permitted for women and young persons. Over the years there has been much pressure (inside and outside Parliament) to reduce the total normal working hours for women and young persons to 48 hours a week. With effect from 1 December, 1967 a four year phased programme of reduction of working hours for women and young persons to a statutory maximum of 48 hours per week on 1 December, 1971 was introduced. At the same time adjustments to permissible overtime were being permitted to enable workers' earnings to be maintained and to give employers a chance to adjust themselves to the new conditions.

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