TNAG-0822-FCO40-1029-Policy-on-salaries-for-civil-servants-in-Hong-Kong-1978 — Page 433

Mr Cortage Man Carly.

PS/Lord Goronwy-Roberts

20yerts

NSID

HKK 430/1

51

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY/NO. 51

0 8 JUN1978

DESK OFFICER

INDEX

Wo

PA

REGISTRY

Action Taken

QE

$5

36

FLAGS A,

B, C, Be

Da

(46)

E,

(45)

F

(47

FLAG G

FLAG H

FLAG I

60

HONG KONG : SHORTHAND/AUDIO TYPISTS' DISPUTE : PARLIAMENTARY INTEREST

1. Five MPs have now written to Lord Goronwy-Roberts to ask about progress towards settling the dispute between the Hong Kong Government and their shorthand and audio typists. They are: Mr Frank Hooley (Labour Heeley), Mr Arthur Latham (Labour Paddington), Mr Stan Newens (Labour/ Cooperative Harlow), Miss Joan Maynard (Labour Sheffield Brightside) and Mr Doug Hoyle (Labour Nelson and Colne. Mr Tom Pendry (Labour Stalybridge and Hyde) has also

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telephoned on the same subject and has been promised a written reply. Draft replies to the first three letters were originally submitted on 23 May, but as the Minister of State would not have seen them before today, I thought it might be more convenient to cover all the outstanding enquiries in one submission.

2. My predecessor wrote to the new Hong Kong Secretary

for the Civil Service, Mr Rowlands, on 19 May urging the need for a more conciliatory approach to this dispute. Mr Rowlands' interim reply of 2 June (Hong Kong telegram No 680) is encouraging as far as it goes and I am reasonably confident that he will come up with ideas which will at least mark an advance on the Hong Kong Government's previous rigid attitude.

3. We have been promised a substantive reply at the end of this week, but that timing may slip and I imagine that the Minister of State will in any case not wish to delay writing to the MPs concerned for a further week. I therefore recommend that Lord Goronwy-Roberts should reply now on the lines of the attached drafts.

5 June 1978

Luvandan

R JT McLaren

Hong Kong & General Dept