HC Deb 19 March 1929 vol 226 cc1582-3
16. Mr. HARRIS

asked the Secretary for Mines whether he has any available information giving the comparative wages and hours worked by miners in this country, in Silesia on the Polish side, and in the mines located in Germany adjacent to the Polish border; if so, what are the hours and wages in the three places: and if the differences in the hours and labour have been brought to the attention of the International Labour Office at Geneva and have been considered and reported on there?

The SECRETARY for MINES (Commodore Douglas King)

A Report giving comparative particulars of wages and hours of labour in the coal mining industry at home and abroad was published early in 1928 by the International Labour Office. If the hon. Member will read the Report, a copy of which is available in the Library, I think he will agree that the subject is too complicated to enable me to give the information asked for in the second part of his question.

Mr. HARRIS

Is it not a fact that the terribly low wages and long hours of Polish miners as compared with British and German miners is one of the primary causes of the dislocation of the coal industry in this country; and does the hon. and gallant Gentleman not think it would be worth while for his Department to make a report on the subject?

Commodore KING

Without doubt, low wages and long hours intensify the competition which our coal industry has to face.