The conditions in this factory were extremely over-crowded, there was bad lighting, very little free space-in fact very, very poor working conditions.
In the ladies hose section they had 24 machines employing 7 knitters and one mechanic. The productivity was low and all the hose was examined on a "Donkey" but the quality of the fabric produced was extremely high.
In part of the Half Hose section we saw one operative per machine and in the post-boarding department the machines were over-manned and it was the opinion of the delegation that three men were being employed where one man would be employed in the United Kingdom.
The employees in this factory receive 10 public holidays and 5 days holiday for the Chinese New Year, all of which are paid for.
In this factory there appeared to be a fairly high proportion of workpeople walking about with no specific production job and there was very little aim or purpose, from what we could see, to aid the productivity in the company.
Factory (iii)
The third factory we visited manufactured outerwear from both wool and man-made fibres. The fabric was knitted on power flat and hand flat machines. They had 24 14 gauge power flats and about 200 hand flats, 3, 5 and 7 gauge.
This factory, contrary to most other factories we visited, worked on a single shift basis, employing about 500 people, of which 220 were employed on knitting (60 girls and 160 men). Of the total labour force of 500, approximately 180 are men and all the factory works a 6 day week of 8 hours per day, plus 2 hours overtime each day. For this they are paid time and a half.
For a 10 hour day a male knitter averages about 60 U.S.A. dollars per month. The girl knitters on power flat machines are paid somewhat less than the male knitters.
The garments in this factory were linked wherever possible. Where linking was impossible a lockstitch machine was used. A linker would be paid about 36 U.S.A. dollars per month for a 10 hour day, 6 days per week.
Free board is given to all the operatives and a charge of 2.50 U.S.A. dollars per month is made for food. People who live outside the factory are given free transport.
The operatives in this company are given 10 public holidays per year and 6 days at the Chinese New Year. All these holidays are paid for.
The company exports practically all its goods to the U.S.A. and Canada. When observing the productivity in this factory one would assess that the linking and power flat knitting would be somewhat below the production rate expected in this country and the hand finishing was very much below the standard expected in the Western World. The finished garments were of a not very high quality and there did appear to us to be a very high percentage of menders and examiners employed, although the hand flat department appeared to be working very well.
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