TNAG-0647-FCO40-795-Study-of-labour-relations-in-Hong-Kong-by-Professor-H-A-Turn-1977 — Page 148

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work situation their general level of job satisfaction is unlikely to be

affected here.

There was little variation between the subgroups in the sample. There was a slight tendency for older women to be more satisfied with their

income level (100 of older women rated this as good or average compared

to 78, 87, and 82 of younger men, older men and younger women) and their employer (89 of older women rated their employer as good compared to 56 of the younger men, 61 of the older men and 62 of the younger

women). With regard to welfare benefits, not surprisingly the

respondents in the large firms who, as we have seen, received far more welfare benefits, more frequently rated this aspect of their jobs good (54) than did respondents in the small firms (18).

The workers in the sample were also asked in connection with their

present job in what way they felt aspects of their jobs would be best

5

improved. Table 7 below gives the results. Table 7 shows joint

consultation to be easily the most popular with 42 of the respondents

favouring it. Employer's initiative and government legislation are the

next most frequently mentioned but are some way behind joint consulta- tions with 26 and 21 respondents. Only one respondent chose trade union

bargaining and respected intermediaries, despite Jarvie and Agassi's propositions concerning the importance of "face" and Chinese family

structure, attracted only six respondents. There was some considerable

variation with the sub groups in the sample here. Joint consultation

was in fact the first choice of only older men and younger women.

Younger men favoured government legislation while older women, in line

with their more deferential attitudes, favoured employer's initiative.

There were slightly larger differences between the skilled and other

workers. The skilled workers in fact preferred employer's initiative,

perhaps reflecting their better market situation, while the semi-skilled

and unskilled groups went for joint consultation.