MR. PHILIPPS (Lanark, Mid)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether it is the case that till June, 1888, the hired men under the Works Department at Pembroke Dock used to work the same hours as the hired men in the Chief Constructor's Department, but 448 that, since that date, the men employed in the Works Department have been forced to work six hours a week longer than the others; and whether any extra pay has been given for the extra time so worked?
§ LORD G. HAMILTONYes, Sir. Prior to 1888 the hired men employed under the Works Department at the other Dockyards and Naval Establishments worked for longer hours than at Pembroke, and it was considered right that the hours of the Works Department should be made the same at all the yards. No extra pay was allowed in consequence of this change, men of the Works Department being supposed to work not according to dockyard hours, but the hours usually required by contractors employing the same class of labour.