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providing the workers with a sufficiency, would not flood the very limited commodity markets with cheap money and start the Colony on an inflation spiral. As a purely temporary expedient unskilled labour was engaged at $1.00 per day with skilled labour at $2.00 per day, and shortly afterwards a rehabilitation allowance of $1.00 per day was paid to all grades. It was obvious that the wage structure then establish- ed was far too rigid to endure for more than a very limited period of time and the matter was investigated by a Committee composed of members of the Administration and employers with a view to producing a more permanent scale. The recommendations of the Committee were accepted by the Administration after discussion with representatives of the Chinese Engineers Union. They provided a graduated scale of basic rates (calculated on an hourly basis) ranging from $0.80 per day for light weight coolies to $3.20 per day for skilled artisans, together with a rehabilitation allowance which varied with the "Food and Fuel" figures produced by the Labour Office. These figures were based on the average retail price of a limited range of essential foodstuffs and firewood. Originally these rates were based on a 9 hour day, which had been general before the war, but subsequent Trade Union negotiations secured acceptance of an 8 hour day for the same overall wage and also a basic minimum of $2.00 per day for all men who were employed as skilled tradesmen. These basic wages represented an approximate increase of 38% on the mid-1941 rates. In May, 1946, a further increase in the cost of living necessitated a 100% increase in the rehabilitation allowance, but towards the end of the year a decrease in the cost of many of the essential foodstuffs was observable, and there was accordingly reason to expect that the variable rehabilitation allowance might decrease during early 1947.

The wages of approximately 30,000 workmen employed by the larger European firms and by the Government are governed by the scale described above. Owing to the shortage of skilled labour many of the smaller Chinese firms and, in the case of motor drivers, many private employers are paying wages which are five or six times pre-war rates. Clerical wages have similarly increased, particularly in com- mercial firms, and whereas before the war few clerks were in receipt of over $100 to $150 per month, the present wage for a capable clerk averages $300 to $400 per month, while chief clerks receive between $500 and $600 per month. High cost

of living or rehabilitation allowances are added to these amounts, the rate of rehabilitation allowance for the last six months of the year being $84 per month. Owing to the present financial position of the Colony it has been found very difficult to increase to any marked extent the wages of Government officers and the overall emoluments of the clerical

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and other monthly paid junior employees is probably some 20% to 40% lower than commercial rates.

The all-round increase in wage rate levels may be seen from the following tables:

Average Rates of Wages for Labour.

Daily Paid.

(Dockyards, Utility Companies, etc.) Skilled Tradesmen Skilled Workmen

Pre-war.

1946.

(Last six months including Rehabilitation Allowance).

$0.75 - $1.40

$5.00 - $6.20

$0.70 $1.00

$4.50 - $5.00

Ordinary Workmen

$0.60 - $0.75

$4.20 - $4.50

Coolies.

$0.40 - $0.60

$3.20 - $3.60

Monthly Paid.

(Transport Workers).

Tram Drivers

$36 - $45

$154 - $174

Bus Drivers

$27 - $55

$169 - $184

Tram Conductors

$30 - $39

$140 - $164

$20 - $35

$139 $159

M

Bus Conductors

In factories and workshops similar increases have been made, and are best illustrated by a comparison of the daily wages of women factory workers who before the war earned on the average from 25 to 60¢ daily as against present averages of $1.50 to $3.00 (male workers 1946 $2.00 to $6.00). Typical scales included in these averages are:

Low

High

Pre-war.

Battery Factories.....156 - 35¢ Perfumery Factories 20 - 406 Preserved Ginger &

Fruit Works ....156-606

1946.

$1.50 - $3.00 (males up to $5.00) $1.20 - $1.70 (males up to $4.00)

$1.00 - $1.50 (males up to $3.00)

Rattan Works .................306 - $1.00 $2.00 - $4.00 (males up to $8.00) Rubber Shoe

Factories

.35¢ - $1.05 $2.00 - $5.50 (males up to $6.00)

In 1946 the lowest paid factory workers were women feather workers earning 70¢ to $1.30, and the highest were male weavers earning $2 to $10.

The present factory working hours are from 7.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m., with an hour off at mid-day. Overtime from 6.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. is at the rate of time and a half. About 90% of the male workers are provided with board and lodging.

Trade Unions and Guilds.

Statutory framework for the registration of Trade Unions in the Colony is in the course of preparation. Since the re-occupation, as in pre-war years, guilds and societies, includ- ing labour guilds, have continued to register voluntarily with the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs. By the middle of 1946

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