§ SIR H. DRUMMOND WOLFFasked the Secretary to the Admiralty, If he 1420 can state whether persons employed in Her Majesty's Dockyards are paid for public holidays; and, whether one class of artizans receive payment on such occasions, while others do not; and, if so, whether he can state the reasons for which one class is treated less favourably than the other in this respect?
§ MR. CAMPBELL - BANNERMANSir, the Dockyard Regulations lay down that workpeople shall be paid their full wages for the established public holidays, an exception being made in the case of "hired labourers engaged for short periods by the storekeeper, and hired persons employed in the works department." As the former class are not continuously employed, their exception from this privilege seems reasonable. The hired men in the works department have been treated on the footing of men employed by contractors, whose place they fill, and have thus been considered as not entitled to the ordinary advantages of the Dockyards. This is, however, a matter which is to be looked into in the course of the investigation now being conducted into various Dockyard questions.