§ 73. Mr. R. C. Morrisonasked the Minister of Labour whether his attention has been drawn to the evidence given in a recent case in Birmingham in connection with the Eldorado Ice Cream Company, and to the dissatisfaction of the employés of that company with the conditions of their employment; whether he will instruct his conciliation officer to make inquiries into these conditions; and whether he will consider setting up a trade board to deal with this sort of employment?
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour (Mr. Lennox-Boyd)I would refer the hon. Member to the reply on this subject given on Thursday last to the hon. Member for Morpeth (Mr. R. S. Taylor).
§ Mr. MorrisonIs the Parliamentary Secretary aware that this large firm is employing thousands of people throughout the country over 14 hours per day, without any recognised meal times, at a wage of 30s. per week; and does he not think that it is a matter which should be attended to by his Department?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydWithout accepting the hon. Member's contention, the question of wages and the conditions in the retail distributive trades is considered in the unanimous report from the two sides of the industry which is now being made available. It seems better to deal with the retail distributive trades as a whole rather than piecemeal.
§ Mr. MorrisonWill that report include these ice-cream vendors?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydCertainly.