§ MR. BOWERMANTo ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that hydraulic crane-drivers at Deptford Victualling Yard are receiving from 22s. to 24s. per week, whereas men employed on similar work in the dockyard receive from 27s. to 30s. per week; and whether he will put the men under the Victualling Yard and Dockyard Regulations upon the same footing, and raise their wages to those paid by private employers.
(Answered by Mr. McKenna.) The Victualling Yard rates of pay are fixed with a view to placing the men on the same average footing as those in the royal dockyards. According to my information, the Government rates compare very favourably with those paid by private employers in the district.