§ 10. Viscount CURZONasked the Minister of Labour how many ex-service men have now applied under the Government scheme for employment in the building trades; how many are now employed; what is the attitude of the trade unions concerned; and whether he has investigated the recent case at Tiverton?
§ The MINISTER of LABOUR (Dr. Macnamara)Over 18,600 ex-service men have now applied for employment and over 200 are either at work or are reported to have been allocated among employers. The Building Employers' Federation has throughout the country set up 40 district committees for the purpose of operating the scheme. As I have told my Noble Friend, the continued stagnation in industry generally makes it quite impossible, even with the best of intentions, to make any great headway at present. I have had inquiries made into the Tiverton case to which my Noble Friend refers, and find that the man in question had been engaged independently of the scheme; the ground on which the Bricklayers' Society required his removal was that he was over the trade union age limit for apprenticeship. I greatly regret to say that in a number of cases where ex-service men have actually begun to work under the scheme, the attitude adopted by the operatives on the sites to these men, particularly in the London area, has been unfriendly—so unfriendly in a number of cases as to cause the ex-service men concerned to throw the thing up.
§ Viscount CURZONWhy cannot we go ahead in cases such as these and replace all those who make it impossible for ex-service men to earn their livelihood?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAI cannot make much headway during the present trade depression, but in the cases I have referred to where the atmosphere is so 1340 disagreeable that the men have thrown up their jobs, I must try and deal with such cases.
§ Sir W. DAVISONCan the right hon. Gentleman not arrange for jobs to be done by a colony of these men working by themselves where they will not be subjected to these influences?