TNAG-0089-FCO40-125-Social-welfare-working-conditions-in-Hong-Kong-1968 — Page 46

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In the past, it has appeared that the Hongkong Government, by giving employers police protection to break strikes, have demonstrated that it is futile for workers to offer any protest against the inhuman conditions that exist.

There is a total lack of evidence that the Honkong Government is interested in the well-being of the workers generally. This point is made by the apparent attempt to phrase the proposed new legislation in such a way as to make it completely useless.

I do not wish to continue this criticism of British rule in Hongkong however, for I am convinced that there cannot be any real improvement until we have someone with experience of labour-management co-operation, with the necessary authority to impose a new way of thinking upon the industrialists in the colony.

At the present time, I am being inundated with enquiries from the press in the United Kingdom for information about Hongkong. I am having the utmost difficulty in avoiding the real issue, as this could only result in adding to the unrest in the colony.

During the past 18 months, I have, with the assistance of several Members of Parliament, done my utmost to get the hours of work of women and young persons in Hongkong, reduced from 60 hours per week to 48 hours per week, or from

10 to 8 hours per day. If the present riots succeed in making both the Government and industrialists take a more realistic view of their responsibilities to the workers, then some progress will be made. I must point out however, that I would focus world-wide attention upon a situation where efforts to obtain improvements by constitutional means fail, whilst rioting brings results. It appears that the only way in which the Government of Honkong can solve this problem, would be for due recognition to be given to the part played by 'international agencies' in assisting to improve existing labour legislation. You will see from the very vagueness of this, that I am more concerned with avoiding a situation where the communists could claim credit for any improvement, rather than seeking personal kudos in this important matter. My reward would be the improved conditions of the workers.

Finally, I would like to make one or two suggestions which I feel might be helpful in the future, based upon many years of experience in the trade union movement, both nationally and internationally.

Hongkong is probably the richest colony in the whole world, and we can therefore, assume that it will be as easy to impose better labour legislation in the colony as it is to enforce similar legislation in the developing countries. The biggest scandal so far as working conditions are concerned, are the hours of work. The present system of employers offering 'good attendance bonuses' only proves that it is possible to pay higher wages, but it is not very difficult to visualise how hard it will be to dispense with such a practice. After due thought on this matter, and having regard to the effect of reducing hours of work, I would suggest that new legislation should provide for a universal rest day throughout all industries in the colony. The effect of this could be cushioned by the granting of licences for exemption in a rather liberal way in the early stages, and a gradual tightening later. This would result in the Labour Department always being in control of what work was being carried out on the recognised rest day.

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