ENG-1957 — Page 56

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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

The opening of a new shipyard in Dutch New Guinea provided employment for 72 workers. Skilled workmen from the Colony, as before, were much in demand in the Brunei oilfields and in development projects in Brunei and else- where. Local textile and enamelware factories sent skilled hands to develop

to develop connected enterprises in Indonesia, Malaya, Singapore and Burma.

WAGES AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

Wages. No significant changes in wage rates were observed during the year. Manufacturers were concerned to keep labour costs down because of growing international competition in overseas markets. The building boom con- tinued, and although minimum and maximum wages re- mained unchanged in construction projects, there was a tendency for more workers to be paid nearer the maximum than in the previous year. In the textile industry and in other large, modern industrial concerns, wages remained stable, but individual increases depending upon skill and-length of service were granted. The average wage range for daily- rated workers was:

skilled workmen

semi-skilled workmen

unskilled workmen

$7 to $12 a day

$5 to $ 8

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$3 to $ 6

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Some highly skilled workers in the engineering and other trades received from $15 to $18 a day. In cases where wage increases were obtained, the main reason was that with the introduction of modern machinery, operators carried greater responsibility and achieved higher output. In large sections of industry piece-rates are common, both men and women receiving the same rates. Pay for learners in trades where a period of in-plant training is necessary is frequently below the unskilled rates quoted above, but wages rise with increases in skill.

Overtime rates for manual workers vary between time-and- a-quarter and double-time, but time-and-a-half is the most