§ SIR HERBERT MAXWELLasked the Postmaster General, with reference to Sunday work in Post and Telegraph Offices in Scotland, Why such work is reckoned and paid for as overtime in London and not in Edinburgh and other parts of Scotland?
§ LORD ELCHOalso asked, Whether it is not a fact that, while Sunday labour is now generally imposed upon Post Office clerks in large towns throughout the Country, the clerks in London alone receive any compensating privileges in the shape either of extra pay or extra leave; and, whether, if this is so, he is prepared to place the provincial clerks on the same footing as their more favoured London colleagues?
§ MR. FAWCETTAs I explained in answer to a similar Question a few days since, Sunday work in the Post Office in London has always been an exception, while in Provincial offices it has always existed. By the new classification, however, in 1881, the position of sorting clerks and telegraphists in the Provincial offices with regard to Sunday work was considerably improved, as they are not ordinarily called upon to do more than eight hours' work in four Sundays, and if employed for a longer period than this are paid for overtime.
§ SIR HERBERT MAXWELLsaid, that the right hon. Gentleman, by his repetition of his answer of the former clay, had not answered the Question which was on the Paper, which was, why Sunday work was reckoned exceptional in London and not exceptional in Scotland?
§ MR. FAWCETTreplied, that there had always been so very much less Sunday work in London, and no Sunday deliveries in London, that the whole question of Sunday work in London and in Provincial towns had always rested on a different footing. The only change that had been introduced by the classification that had been made had been to 1545 improve the position of the Provincial staff considerably.