§ MR. SEDDON (Lancashire, Newton)To ask the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that the extra men now being engaged at the Sheffield General Post Office are being paid 5½d. per hour for a forty-five-hour week, instead of 25s. per week for the same number of hours; and, if so, what steps he proposes to take.
(Answered by Mr. Sydney Buxton.) As I have already stated in the House, the rates of pay for extra men varied according to the district. It seemed advisable, as far as possible, to place the rate of pay on a uniform basis, and to base them on the rates recommended by the Select Committee for auxiliary service. Besides the fixed rate, the men receive special pay for night work, for Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and get overtime pay where it has to be worked. The general net result of the alteration will be an increase in the total amount of pay. The payment of 5½d. per hour, which it is proposed to pay at Sheffield, is the auxiliary rate proper to that office. The reference to a forty-five-hour week is not understood, as probably all the casual force will be employed for at 1218 least forty-eight hours during the Christmas week.