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Women" (which is consultative only) does not give weight to the difference between a legal relaxation in conditions where trade unions are strong and the 8 hour 5 day week well established, as in UK, and the vastly different conditions of working life in Hong Kong.
(b) Wages and the Cost of Living (paragraphs 5-14
of the report). The mechanism for wage adjust- ment in Hong Kong is dependent largely on natural market forces; the trade unions are weak and divided and collective bargaining plays only a minor part. There are no statutory minimum wages. The report pointed out that the regular upward move of real wages had been reversed during the six months period to September 1973 and that if this trend continued i.e. the cost of living continued to rise at a faster rate than wage adjustments, then a difficult situation would arise for which there was no readily available remedy in Hong Kong. The problem is a general one with which many Governments are having to grapple at the present time, but the Hong Kong reply that "a discreet study of the potential problems" should be undertaken on "a contingency plan basis" does not reflect the degree of urgency that would seem to be justified. It is in any case a problem with such major economic and social implications that it may be unwise to leave it to the Labour Department alone.
(c) Social Welfare and Social Security. Mr Foggon's
report describes the important advances that have been made in recent years in Hong Kong in the relief of poverty and services for the disadvantaged. The Five Year Plan for social welfare recently endorsed by the Hong Kong Government after widespread consultation with the community is an imaginative and far-sighted document. Mr Foggon has drawn attention,
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