§ MR. LOUGHI beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether suspensions and dismissals of workmen are still going on in the Field Gun Section at Woolwich Arsenal; and, if so, why such should be necessary?
§ MR. WOODALLWill my hon. Friend allow me to reply to him? Men have been suspended in turns in batches to the number of about 60 in all during the last three months, and 16 have been discharged. This is in consequence of the scarcity of work in the Department referred to.
§ MR. LOUGHIs it not true that in the torpedo section additional men have been taken on, and that in other parts of the Arsenal the men are working overtime? Would it not be possible to transfer men from one section to another instead of dismissing them?
§ *MR. WOODALLIn some sections we have night shifts. I have recently, With reluctance, sanctioned a certain amount of overtime because of a pressing demand for a particular class of work. The men employed on this work are specially competent for it, and I do not think it would be possible for this reason to transfer men from one part of the factory to meet the necessities of another part.