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Legislative changes are clearly necessary and the most effective way of ensuring that these fulfil the needs of
the Colony's workers is for the workers themselves to
have effective representation on the Legislative and
Executive Councils. Such representation could come through the trade union structure, and being clearly identified with the interests of Hong Kong's workforce would counterbalance the political influence of business
and commercial interests which have always dominated the Colony's administration.
Minimum Wages and Other Conditions
Only about 5 per cent of the labour force are currently covered by collective agreements. Thus, the vast majority of workers are subject to the unilateral decisions of management on a wide range of issues which affect their wages, conditions and working environment. Employers are highly organised, and are also politically strong. Accordingly, when wages rates are determined by leading employers, there is virtually no room for improvement by anyone else.
Because of the current weakness of the trade unions and
their inability to play a major role in general wage determination, there is clearly a need for the estab- lishment of a body akin to a Minimum Wages Board. Such a Board could be based on the United Kingdom Wages Council. system, but a single body would cover the Colony's entire
workforce. The Board would deal with matters such as
annual holidays, sick leave and overtime rates, as well as wages and other conditions of employment that may be relevant in the Hong Kong context.
There are, of course, arguments against such a proposal. A major one might, no doubt, be that minimum conditions set down by the Board may be interpreted as a maximum by
employers.
Continued/...
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