HC Deb 24 February 1899 vol 67 cc452-3
MR. PATRICK O'BRIEN

I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster-Genera], if he will state why the course adopted at the Glasgow Post Office in 1892, in regard to the treatment of and the payment for Monday, the 26th December, instead of Sunday, the 25th of the same month, was departed from in 1898; whether, in view of the fact that it is contrary to official usage to withdraw a privilege once enjoyed, the Postmaster-General will reconsider his decision in reply to a memorial relating to this matter, which was presented by several sections of the Glasgow Post Office staff in December last, and thus restore the concession granted by Mr. Arnold Morley; and whether the clerical staff of the General Post Office, London, were granted a holiday on the 27th of December, while the Savings Bank staff have been promised an extra day's holiday during the year in lieu of being allowed off on the 27th December?

THE FIRST COMMISSIONER OF WORKS (for Mr. HANBURY)

The staff at the Glasgow Post Office have been paid for attendance on Sunday, December 25th, 1898, precisely the same as the staff at all other provincial offices in the kingdom. They are allowed four public holidays a year corresponding to the four Bank Holidays in England and Ireland, and as they had already received four holidays for 1898, Monday, December 26th, was treated as an ordinary day. Under any other arrangement the staff at Glasgow would have received more favourable treatment than the staff in other parts of the United Kingdom, and the Postmaster-General saw no reason for renewing the exceptional treatment they received in this respect in 1892, especially as higher rates of pay are now given for attendance on Sunday, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day. The facts respecting the holiday on the 27th December for the clerical staff of the General Post Office, London, and of the Savings Bank Department are correctly stated, but the concession was granted only so far as the public service permitted, and provided no additional cost was incurred.