ENG-1957 — Page 67

OCCUPATIONS, WAGES AND LABOUR ORGANIZATION

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During the year the Labour Department under its trade union education programme arranged, in co-operation with the Technical College, three series of lectures on simple accounting for the benefit of local trade unionists. Each series consisted of eight talks of 12 hours each, and about 80 persons from 21 trade unions attended the lectures. The trade union section, as well as other sections of the Labour Department, gave lectures to pupils of a number of Anglo- Chinese secondary schools and middle schools.

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Joint Consultation. The use of joint consultation machin- ery in industrial concerns is uncommon, a notable exception being Hongkong Tramways Ltd. The Joint Consultative Committee established in this company in 1955 continued to hold meetings during the year and useful results were accomplished. Many employers are reluctant to experiment in this field, and in most industrial undertakings workers lack the experience and organization to press effectively for the establishment of Joint Consultative Committees. It is hoped, however, that with further training of workers and trade union officials a better understanding of the advantages and responsibilities of joint consultation may be obtained.

Labour Disputes. There were two strikes during the year, both of which led to lockouts. Man-days lost totalled 60,540. This figure is double that of! 1956, but below the post-war average of 88,520. The cause of each of these disputes was an endeavour by the management to rectify poor production in a key section of the factory. When the workers concerned went on strike, other sections of the factories had to be closed owing to lack of materials. One of the strikes was unsuccessful, and the workers accepted the management's new scheme of operation. The other had not been settled at the end of the year.

Details of some of the more important disputes follow:

Fung Keong Rubber Manufactory Ltd. In January a dispute arose in this factory over the introduction of a