§ 65. Mr. A. SHORTasked the Postmaster-General if male telephonists are the only Post Office servants who are compelled to work a fifty-four hour week; whether he is aware that Sundays, Bank Holidays, and Christmas Day are included in this fifty-four hour attendance without extra pay or time in lieu thereof; and whether he will, in view of the strain which is imposed upon these men by the nature of their work, consider the necessity of bringing this staff into line with ordinary Post Office conditions?
§ The ASSISTANT POSTMASTER-GENERAL (Mr. Pike Pease)Male telephonists are employed during the night and attend for fifty-four hours a week, but their net working hours, deducting intervals for meals and rest, are generally below forty-six weekly. The work through the night is, as a rule, light and intermittent, and involves no special 31 strain. The conditions of service were fixed in accordance with the recommendations of the Select Committee on Post Office Servants which reported in 1913, and my right hon. Friend is not at present prepared to alter them.