§ MR. TUFF (Rochester)To ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether he can state how many men were employed on overtime and piecework at Chatham Dockyard for the week ending Friday, 4th August instant, and also for each of the preceding five weeks; and why these men were so employed when others were being discharged.
(Answered by Mr. Pretyman.) The numbers of men employed at Chatham on overtime and piecework for the six weeks referred to are as follow:—
| Week ended. | Number of men. | |||
| Overtime. | Piecework. | |||
| 1st July | - | - | 754 | 1,334 |
| 8th July | - | - | 875 | 1,290 |
| 15th July | - | - | 963 | 1,452 |
| 22nd July | - | - | 783 | 1,478 |
| 29th July | - | - | 814 | 1,391 |
| 5th August | - | 855 | 1,415 |
§ A considerable proportion of the men employed on overtime are, necessarily, so 785 employed all the year round, in lighting furnaces, boilers, etc. The remainder were engaged on work which had to be completed by a specified date, and on which it was not possible remuneratively to employ a larger number of men, and so to dispense with the overtime. Piecework is necessary for economical production, and the discharges are not in any way increased by resorting to it.