CONFIDENTIAL
e.
avoid
Para.7 I would endorse the detailed analysis here and, in particular, any immediate move towards a minimum wage. My own report was quite clear here on this (para.14): "In the long term either trade unions will become stronger in Hong Kong and better able to intervene effectively in wage bargaining, or the Government must take steps to establish machinery for the fixing of minimum wages in particular industries or occupations or perhaps better Vin Hong Kong circumstances - a general mimimum wage below which an
adult working a normal day may not be paid.
Annex to despatch of 28 May
I do not find this a particularly perceptive or impressive document. I would have been happier if it had sought to answer the questions put in para.7 of my report. What is meant, for example, by "expenditure on fresh fish, fresh pork, fresh vegetables and fresh fruit is still high proportionately"? There has been a decline in consumption of between 6% - 8% and pretty obviously it is the people at the bottom end of the wage scale who are buying less of these commodities. It is certainly reassuring, however, that the number of applicants for public assistanceactually fell in April and there is as yet no serious unemployment. I would be more reassured, however, if the Hong Kong Government could be encouraged to have an independent survey put in hand by, say, the University of Hong Kong. It was research by independent organisations in South Africa which produced the poverty datum line figures leading to the revelations about African living standards which led to the special Parliamentary Committee Report last year.
5 June 1974
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CONFIDENTIAL
G Foggon
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