§ 12. Sir R. Youngasked the Minister of Labour whether an unemployed man sent by the employment exchange from one county to another to work producing opencast coal is entitled to a free railway voucher and allowed any lodging allowance; and, if not, on what conditions such assistance to get to work in a place far removed from his home is temporarily advanced.
§ The Minister of Labour (Mr. Isaacs)Opencast coalmining is carried out by the building and civil engineering industry, whose working rules govern the payment of lodging allowances and travelling expenses. Apart from the contractors own key men, payment of allowances and expenses, which would in any case be made by the contractor and not by my Department, would depend on whether an award in respect of a particular contract had been made by the industry's own conciliation board. A worker wishing to proceed to a job which does not entitle him to the payment of his fare by the employer could obtain a railway warrant from a local office of my Department on an undertaking to refund the cost later.