§ Mr. W. T. WILSON (Lancashire, Westhoughton)To ask the Postmaster-General whether be is aware that two men, employed as wiremen at the Birmingham Post Office, are, or were, engaged making frames, doors, and screens, and that they were being paid from 2s. 3d. to 2s. 6d. per day less than the current rate of wages paid in this district for doing this class of work; and whether he will take steps to put a stop to this system of doing work in connection with his Department.
§ (Answered by Mr. Sydney Buxton.) I find that a local official, acting without instructions and contrary to rules, employed two wiremen to fit up a rough frame door and screen for the advantage of the men employed behind the switch sections in the trunk telephone exchange at the Birmingham Post Office. I have taken steps to prevent a recurrence of the irregularity.