TNAG-0647-FCO40-795-Study-of-labour-relations-in-Hong-Kong-by-Professor-H-A-Turn-1977 — Page 138

12.

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Although

This

The problem is that nobody knows just how valatile capital

investment is in HK and those who are forced to live out their

lives here might be reluctant to put the issue to test.

employers are not exposed to the pressure of strong organized

labour and are to varying degree insulated from the rigours of a

free labour market, they are acutely aware of the political Sword

of Damocles which hands over HK's head and of the colony's

vulnerability to trade union pressure overseas. They are not going

to risk upsetting such a good thing as HK's privileged situation by hammering down on wages until they stimulate social unrest.

awareness manifests itself in a number of ways in support, through

their representation in the legislature, for an extensive programme

of labour reform laws (however reluctantly that support may have

been given, in public). It is also manifested in the long-term

upward trend in real wages, which has not arisen as a result of

pressure from labour. To summarise the argument,

demand is largely external, there is no reason for HK's capitalists

to raise wages for the sake of expanding domestic consumption and

thereby levels of production. Domestic consumer demand can never be

a serious factor for HK's firms, particularly since China has assumed responsibility for supplying the bulk of mass consumption goods at prices lower than local costs (and profit levels) could

probably justify. The upward trend in real wages, although partly stimulated by high levels of employment, must be attributed there-

fore to the voluntary redistribution policies of employers who

have primarily political and social factors in mind. In this

situation it is nonsense to conceive of wage determination as

shaped by the market model of free competition.

Policy conclusions:

then:

Since

The basic question (albeit an elitist one) is whether this paternalistic system, supported by the collusion of both British and Chinese governments and reinforced by the political apathy of

the population, could be improved for the mass of people by legislating for collective representation of workers in the market place. Certainly, many employers are extremely hostile to the

notion of collective bargaining, even in the diluted form of wage

negotiations conducted through some such form as a joint

consultative committee. The political division of the unions suits