§ Mr. STEADMAN (Finsbury, Central)To ask the Postmaster General how many men have gone short of their day-work rate while working piece-work at Hollo-way Factory and Mount Pleasant during the last year, and the amount of their weekly loss; and will he take steps to see that a man after giving a week's work receives a full week's pay, in view of the fact that the piece-work prices are adjusted too low.
(Answered by Mr. Sydney Buxton.) The average profit on piece-work at 1313 Mount Pleasant as compared with day-rates, works out at about 30 per cent.; and it does not appear, therefore, that the piece-work prices are adjusted too low. The number of men who have suffered a loss on their day-rates in any particular weeks during the past twelve months in connection with piece-work operations at the two factories is forty-five and their total losses amounted to £31 0s. 3½d. The total approximate value of piece-work performed in the same period was over £39,000, and those who sustained a loss in certain particular weeks earned on the average considerably more than their day-rate.