HC Deb 14 February 1946 vol 419 cc527-8
60. Captain Baird

asked the Minister of Labour on what grounds were 80 men employed by Ever Ready, Perks Lane, Wolverhampton, suspended from work for one week.

Mr. Isaacs

My information is that 27 men, not 80, were suspended by the management for absenting themselves from work for half a day on the occasion of a football match. Only three days' suspension, in each case, were, I understand, without pay.

Captain Baird

While thanking the Minister for that reply, and while realising the seriousness of the crime at the present time, may I ask him if he considers whether the punishment really fitted the crime, since the result was that work was held back for an even longer period? Would he not reconsider the whole question?

Mr. Isaacs

So far as the Question on the Order Paper is concerned, I would like to point out that this firm suspended these men for a week without pay, and, on being told that it was a breach of the Essential Work Order, they gave the men three days' pay without their having to work for it.