§ 50. Mr. O'GRADYasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that the owners of the steamship "Greenwich," which recently sailed out of Hull, discharged the British members of the crew and signed on in their places a crew of Chinamen at wages considerably lower than those paid to white men; whether he is aware that the men employed in the loading of this and similar ships have threatened to cease work in preference to assisting to load ships manned by Asiatics while British seamen are unemployed, and whether he proposes to take any action in the matter; whether he is aware that a representative body of trade union officials recently signed a manifesto known as the Treasury Agreement, since published by the Government, stating that where the custom of a shop is changed during the War by the introduction of semi-skilled men to perform work hitherto performed by a class of workmen of higher skill, the rates paid shall be the usual rates of the district for that class 832 of work; whether he is aware that transport workers of all classes consider the employment of low-paid Asiatics by certain employers a direct contravention of such an undertaking as that agreed upon, and may take action accordingly; and whether, having regard to the issue thus raised, he will take steps to intervene in the matter under the terms of the Treasury Agreement or the Munitions Act, the Act including transport workers within its provisions?
Mr. RUNCIMANI am aware that the owners of the steamship "Greenwich" at the end of their six months' agreement with the crew discharged them and employed a Chinese crew. The matter was brought to the notice of the Chief Industrial Commissioner and in the course of inquiries he was informed by the owners that the discharged crew was mainly composed of foreign seamen and that they preferred a British crew, if such could be obtained. Further inquiries are being made into the facts of the case.