TNAG-0230-FCO40-266-Conditions-of-employment-of-labour-force-in-Hong-Kong-1970 — Page 35

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14.000 legstered

factories and says nothing about the large number of women employed in other kinds of establishments at night.

The Factory Inspectorate in Hong Kong is inefficient and perhaps even corrupt and cannot be relied upon to protect conditions

6. I am not going to say that the Factory Inspectorate in Hong Kong or the Labour Inspectorate is above criticism. But there cannot be

much wrong with a Labour Inspectorate which, during the period April to September 1969, carried out almost 24,000 visits to industrial premises in connection with the employment of women and young persons

and prosecuted in more than 1,000 cases. The Factory Inspectorate

made more than 32,000 visits in the same period and prosecuted over

1,100 employers. The Chinese Factory Inspectors are, for the main

part, trained in this country and their general quality has been

remarked upon very favourably at the Department of Employment and

Productivity. But we are not complacent nor is Hong Kong. For your personal information - and I would ask you to keep this to yourselves the Hong Kong Government has agreed to a high level review

of their factory and labour inspection services by independent

specialists from this country.

We would be happier about the situation if there were effective trade unions and more support for the trade unions from the Government

7. The Government cannot create trade unions; that is self-evident.

We would welcome the development of strong independent trade unions in Hong Kong, but in spite of the efforts of the Government itself (there

was a trade union officer in Hong Kong for more than ten years, paid for from Government funds) and the efforts of organisations like Mr. Greenhalgh's, such trade unions are still badly supported by the

workers. The left wing unions had a very effective organisation in the public utilities in particular before the confrontation in 1967,

but by their actions they have virtually destroyed themselves. I

have seen no evidence suggesting that the Hong Kong TUC has been able

to move in to the vacuum they left.

8.

Nevertheless, in spite of their weakness, the Hong Kong Government

has given the trade unions a recognised consultative status and they are, of course, represented with the employers on the Labour Advisory

/ Board

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