§ MR. HUDSON (Newcastle-on-Tyne)I beg to ask the First Lord of the 1210 Admiralty if he can now say why Messrs. Armstrong, Whitworth, and Company, Elswick, have not carried out the Fair Wage Clause in their contract on H.M.S. "Invincible," at the Elswick Works, with regard to the wages paid to the electrical wire-workers.
§ MR. McKENNAThe contractors state that they pay the wages generally accepted as current for competent workmen in their trade, and the evidence which so far has been put before the Admiralty is not inconsistent with that statement.
§ *MR. HUDSONIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that this question has been pending since March last, and as late as last week thirty-five of the men were paid at a figure below the standard rate which obtains in the district?
§ MR. McKENNAWe have examined the evidence we have been able to obtain, and are not satisfied that wages below the current rate are being paid.
§ *MR. HUDSONWill the right hon. Gentleman place himself in communication with the trade union of the electrical workers and obtain from them a statement as to the wages current in the district?
§ MR. McKENNAWe have had a communication, but I am not sure if it came from the trade union. I rather think it did.