disadvantage of the presence, in the background, of the Federation, which was constantly urging the workers to insist on better terms, without having the means to assist them to stand out for these terms. However, at the end of the month the workers accepted the terms originally offered and were all 300 or SO reengaged, with the exception of 4 men.
During the year, there were two other minor strikes. One was concerned with public cars, and it was settled by engaging new drivers.
The other strike occurred in a match factory on Ping Chau Island and concerned the suspension of an employee. It was settled without difficulty.
Cost of Living.
There has been little material change during 1948 in the cost of living for the wage-earning classes. The cost of staple commodities, in particular that of rice, which had shown a tendency to fall during the last few months of 1947, rose slightly during the latter part of January and in early February, 1948, and then continued to fall slowly.
More permanent causes of a slightly higher general cost of living level in 1948 were the progressive decline in the value of the Chinese National Dollar and its successor, the Gold Yuan, and the civil war in China, which tended to foster a steady influx of newcomers from China. The housing shortage, although rebuilding has made considerable progress, continues to con- tribute prominently to the cost of living. The pressure on housing space is severe, and rents are many times higher than before the war in spite of legislation designed to prevent undue increases. The exaction of high premiums, though illegal, is also common. For many of the artizan and clerical workers school fees, equipment and clothing are very much bigger items in family budgets than their proportionate pre-war equivalents.
At the end of the year the average retail prices of the staple foodstuffs, etc. of the wage-earning classes, as compared with pre-war and with 1946 levels are set out in the graph at the end of this Chapter.
Wages.
are
a
Wages for Chinese artizan and unskilled labour employed in European-owned industries and in transport concerns now largely uniform, and have been determined through number of negotiated agreements. These rates have also been applied by the Government to its own labour of similar grades. At the end of 1948 these rates, as compared with 1946 scales, were as follows:-
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