EARL COMPTONI beg to ask the Postmaster General for what reason have the wages of twenty-one appointed postmen in Glasgow been reduced from 18s. to 17s. per week; and whether established postmen in Glasgow received 20s. a week fifteen years ago for the same class of work performed by those who now receive 17s. a week?
§ SIR J. FERGUSSONThe men in question were not "appointed," that is as permanent postmen, but temporarily employed at the minimum of the old scale—namely, 18s. a week. The scale of wages for postmen was altered from 18s. rising to 28s. to 17s. rising to 30s., and these men receiving established appointments before they had been employed for a full year were required by the Rules of the Service to commence at the minimum or else to defer their appointment to the end of the year. They were allowed the choice, and preferred the former arrangement. While the minimum of the new scale is lower than that of the old, the postmen receive with it certain new benefits—namely, extra payment for all Sunday duty, an allowance for boots, payment in proportion to their wages for extra duty, and a higher maximum. The minimum of the postmen's scale at Glasgow has never been permanently raised above 18s. a week, although about the period 1432 mentioned it was necessary for a time to pay 20s. a week to new entrants on account of the then state of the labour market. The maximum, however, at that time was only 26s. a week.