2
Year
Major Disputes
Minor Wage
Man Days
Claims
Strikes
Lost
1966/67
40
2,588
17
28,635
1967/68
68
3,093
8
5,231
1968/69
78
3,271
28
13,141
1969/70
127
3,372
32
37,141
1970/71
140
4,195
49
53,733
1971/72
130
4,694
40
21,204
It is worth noting that the average number of man days lost per annum through strikes in Hong Kong over the past ten years has been as low as 38,000. In that time real wages have steadily risen by up to 59%. Earnings may not have quite kept pace this year with the dramatic rise in the cost of living - we expect this to right itself somewhat by the next survey in March 1974 - but it is fair to say that with the inflation of this year and the clammy atmosphere of a long, hot and very wet summer it is remarkable that the year has not seen more stoppages.
In terms of international comparisons too the figures stand up well. Increased industrial unrest was perhaps to be expected in the context of rapid industriali- sation and rising expectations but we found this recent comparison of the numbers of man days lost per thousand workers in a single year through strikes very interesting:
Italy
1,305
U.S.A.
570
Australia
299
U.K.
223
Japan
147
40
28
23
Sweden
Hong Kong
West Germany
Generally therefore the industrial unrest situation gives not too disturbing a picture. We have also looked more closely at the figures so far this year. As you will have noticed, the number of disputes has fallen slightly but the disputes have been more protracted. Indeed, a very small number of cases has actually been responsible for most of the man days lost. The principal ones are readily identifi- able from the often inaccurate and oversensational - attention they have received from the local press. They are Taikoo Docks (15,400 man days lost), Gilda Fashions (7,700), Vianini Construction (6,011) and, most recently, the Cable and Wireless dispute (6,400). There has however been no common theme to these or the summer's other disputes; they have arisen for varied reasons including company bankruptcy, grievances over dismissal, redundancy problems and in some
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