HC Deb 07 November 1949 vol 469 cc866-7
11. Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

asked the Minister of Fuel and Power what is the average earning of a face worker in the mining industry working on the basis of five shifts a week.

The Minister of Fuel and Power (Mr. Gaitskell)

It is estimated that on the average a coal face worker working five weekday shifts would earn £10 10s. a week; including the value of allowances in kind.

Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

Would the right hon. Gentleman pass that information on to the Ministry of Labour who are advertising in an attempt to get recruits for the mines on the basis of £7 to £9 a week?

Mr. Gallacher

Is the Minister aware that these men could not continue digging the coal or earning their wages if it were not for a very large number of men working on the basic rate of £5 per week? The new men who are called in will get the new rate of £5 a week.

Mr. Gaitskell

I was just going to say that the basic rate of wages paid to a man when he enters the industry is far below the rate mentioned. In any case it is, I suggest, better to put the figure too low than too high in advertisements of this kind.

Lieut.-Colonel Sir Thomas Moore

Is the Minister aware that the wages compare very unfavourably with those of on-cost workers?

Mr. Gaitskell

It is not my business to determine the wages structure of the coal-mining industry.

Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

Will the right hon. Gentleman look at the advertisements circulated by his colleague in the "Sunday Pictorial" of 16th October, in which it was stated that £7 to £9 maximum could be earned?

Mr. Blackburn

Perhaps the Minister could also give the figures of mine wages 18 years ago, when the party opposite had responsibility.