ENG-1948 — Page 32

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start has been made. The employers also are being asked to consider the advantages of collective bargaining machinery, and it is hoped that during the year progress can be made in this direction.

At the end of 1948 there were registered twenty-one labour unions with a membership of 1,000 or more, and seventy-six with a smaller membership. The union with the largest

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membership (7,131) was the Hong Kong and Kowloon Restaurant and Cafe Workers General Union. The Chinese Engineer's Institute, a craft union and one of the longest established, retained its position during the year and, with a membership of 6,200, was second in point of size. total membership of registered workers' unions is approximately 71,510 though this figure is probably on the high side, as there is a tendency among unions to exaggerate their membership. There were also at the end of 1948 seventeen employers' federations registered as trade unions.

Labour Disputes.

With the exception of a dispute in the taxi companies, where a combined strike and lockout which started in September was still in progress at the end of the year, the year under review has been freer than any since 1945. Only five disputes resulted in strikes, and in one case only did this involve any considerable number of workers. The adjustments of wages brought about by strikes or other means which occurred during 1946 and 1947 seemed in general to have been sufficient to provide a foundation for stable conditions in 1948.

No new factors emerged during this year to necessitate any radical adjustments of wages.

The strike of the Texas Oil Co. Installation workers for instance, which, apart from the taxi strike, involved the largest number of persons, was based primarily upon the workers' demands for improved conditions of service.

A factor of paramount importance in Hong Kong is the - surplus of semi-skilled and unskilled workers, many of whom are intelligent and easily trained. This renders it simple for undertakings employing comparatively unskilled men, such as the Oil Installation referred to above and transport companies employing conductors and other semi-skilled staff, to replace their complete staff at short notice should it be impossible to come to a settlement in any labour dispute. This is true to a certain extent even in respect of skilled labour, as, for instance, in the taxi dispute where the employers were able to engage a considerable number of fully trained drivers to replace those with whom no settlement seemed possible.

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