§ 17. Mr. Burdenasked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty why the estimated cost of building an Oberon class submarine is approximately the same as in a private dockyard when employees in the Royal dockyards are paid much less than workers in private yards.
§ Mr. HayThe figures of average earnings per hour for the shipbuilding and ship repairing industry and the marine industry compared with the corresponding figures in the four professional departments at Chatham Dockyard are almost the same.
§ Mr. BurdenIf that is the case, why is it that the actual artisans working in the Royal dockyard receive approximately two-thirds the amount paid to comparable artisans in private yards? Does it not imply that there is an overloading of costings of the Civil Service and other factors on to the Royal naval dockyards? Will my hon. Friend look at the possibility of getting these reduced in order that the artisans may have comparable payment to those working in private yards?
§ Mr. HayThere is a certain amount of difficulty here because the problem is concerned with the weekly basic rates for time workers in the Royal dockyards, which it is true are below those paid on average in the shipbuilding industry, but much of the payment is by results and in consequence a higher rate is paid than that for the time worker. Many of these things are under active consideration by ourselves with the trade unions.