§ MR. CROOKS (Woolwich)To ask the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that the labourers at Woolwich Arsenal were guaranteed a minimum rate of 23s., and that they are now called upon to lose some part of this wage; and what steps he proposes to take to prevent any encroachment upon the wages of the most poorly paid men in the Royal Arsenal.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Haldane.) The fall of wages below the minimum is due to the working of short time voluntarily adopted by workmen at Woolwich in order to reduce the number of discharges. No guarantee, such as is suggested in the Question, has ever been made as regards an irreducible minimum. The Ordnance Factories rules distinctly provide that no concession can be made as regards loss of pay due to the closing of a factory in conformity with local custom or to suit the convenience of the majority of the men.