PRIVATE AND SECRET
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18
Commonwealth Office
S.W.1
Curtis Green,
•
7
November, 1967.
Many thanks for your letter SCR 12/5701/67 of 2 November, which reached me yesterday.
I have not yet found time to read all the notes of the official discussions at Government House, which were enclosed with your letter but I must say that my eyebrows shivered a little when I read paragraph 2 of the note under the heading
I think you "Hlours of work for women and young persons". will agree that Lord Shepherd did not say that he would expect the "Government to seek the acceptance of this reduction over four years in five stages". The relevant part of the note
"On resuming, which I took of the meeting reads as follows: Lord Shepherd said that he welcomed what he understood to be agreement on the introduction of a phased reduction in the statutory working hours of women and young persons to 48 per week. For his part he accepted the need in Hong Kong's
revision in the amount of circumstances to permit an upward
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overtime that can be worked up to a maximum at the end of the period of 300 hours. He said that the phasing over five years, as proposed by the Labour Commissioner, was not acceptabl to him as it stood and that we must all seek by all means a reduction of this to four years (i.e. half an hour a day per
The overtime annum) with corresponding adjustments in overtime. limit should be reduced as soon as possible thereafter and should be removed at the end of the period."
There can be no doubt that Lord Shepherd referred to a reduction over four years at the rate of half an hour a day per annum since he read this from a prepared statement which I subsequently showed to you. Your note was virtually identical
D. JORDAN, ESQ., MBE,
PRIVATE AND SECRET
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