Labour under industrial restructuring in Hong Kong: A comparison of textiles and garments

In this paper we attempt to present some basic information on the pat-terns of industrial restructuring and their impact on labour and industrial relations in the textile and garment-making industries in Hong Kong. We review the historical development of the two sectors and delineate the process of restructuring in the 1980s. While there are some basic similarities between the two industries in their strategies and patterns of restructuring, the contrasts are equally remarkable. We argue that, while textiles restructures by becoming more capital-intensive, garment-making continues to rely on the labour-intensive methods of production, surviving by a high level of marketing and production flexibility. We also find interesting similarities and differences in the impacts of restructuring on the employment conditions and industrial relations. On the one hand, industrial conflicts increased for both industries during the period of heightened restructuring activities. On the other hand, real wages dropped in garment –making, while they increased in textiles in the 1980s. In the conclusion we discuss the merits and limitations of three general perspectives in understanding the restructuring of Hong Kong industries. While the world economy and statist perspectives both sensitize us to the similarities in the restructuring process of the two industries, we propose an alternative economic culture argument to capture the contrasts. We suggest that the distinctive institutional configurations of each industry, namely, the combination of economic and technological structure, pat-terns of ownership and management, and the character of labour and industrial relations, might help to account for the comparative differences in the patterns of restructuring and the divergent impacts on workers.
本文嘗試提供一些關於香港之工業轉型及其對紡織及製衣業勞工之影響的基本資料。我們回顧了紡織及製衣這兩個主要製造業部門的歷史發展及它們在八十年代轉型之過程。它們的轉型過程及策略有一些相似之處，但也有很明顯的分別。我們認為紡織的轉型是趨向資本密集的模式，製衣業則保持了勞動密集的生產方式，並以生產及行銷上的靈活性掙扎求存。我們在僱傭條件及工業關係方面也指出了一些相同及歧異之處。首先，在工業轉型最活躍的時期，勞資糾紛也明顯增加。其次，紡織業的實質工資在八十年代持續上昇，但製衣則有停滯不前的趨勢。在結論中，我們亦討論了三套理論在理解香港之工業轉型上之優劣。「世界經濟」及「國家中心」理論突出了兩個工業部門轉型的相似之處，但我們亦提出「經濟文化」的概念，通過結合每個產業部門的技術結構、所有制、管理風格、勞資關係等等因素來分析部門之間不同的地方。Copyright © 1993 Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.