§ 5. Mr. LOUIS SMITHasked the Minister of Labour the wages at the 2357 present time of rolling-mill operatives in the steel industry in this country, and in France, Germany, Belgium and Czechoslovakia?
14. Captain HUDSONasked the Minister of Labour the comparative average wages in the iron and steel industry in Great Britain as compared with France and Belgium, respectively?
§ Miss BONDFIELDAs the reply is necessarily somewhat long, I propose to circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following is the reply:
§ The latest statistics collected by the Ministry of Labour as to the wages of workpeople in the iron and steel industry in Great Britain relate to October, 1928, and are published on page 401 of the "Ministry of Labour Gazette" for November, 1929. I am sending the hon. Member a copy of this issue of the Gazette, together with a copy of the current issue, which contains, on page 166, a summary of the results of an inquiry into wages and hours in the iron and steel industry in Germany in October, 1928.
§ Both in Great Britain and in Germany there have been increases in the rates of wages of some classes of workers in the iron and steel industry since October, 1928. In Great Britain, returns collected by the National Federation of Iron and Steel Manufacturers showed average weekly earnings of 62s. 4d. per head of all workpeople in March, 1930, as compared with 61s. 2d. in October, 1928. In Germany basic rates of wages have increased by varying amounts, the general average being probably about 5 per cent.
§ Similar statistics are not available for France, Belgium or Czechoslovakia, but I would refer the hon. Member to the statement, a copy of which I am sending to him, made on 29th May by the Prime Minister in reply to questions by the hon. Member for the Central Sheffield Division and the right hon. Member for the Epping Division, as to the intended publication of the results of an investigation into wages and conditions in Continental steel works.