§ Lieut.-Colonel POWNALLasked the Postmaster-General why lower wages are paid to sub-office assistants than the standard rate for similar Post Office work; why similar rates of service, hours of attendance, and conditions of employment are not applied to clerks employed solely on Post Office work whether they are employed directly or indirectly by the Postmaster-General; whether the present public facilities are dependent upon the scale payment sub-office system because of the ability of the Postmaster-General to secure cheaper labour through the agency of a sub-contractor; and whether he will endeavour to prepare a scheme whereby fair and reasonable wages may be paid to all persons in his industry without the necessity to curtail existing public facilities?
§ Mr. ILLINGWORTHIt is not the practice of the Post Office to intervene between sub-postmasters and their assistants unless their pay and conditions of service fall below the standard for shop assistants in the service of good employers in the same district. At the smaller offices the Post Office work is not sufficient to require the continuous attention of one person, and is generally performed in conjunction with a private business. This system could not be abandoned without serious curtailment of existing public facilities. When the volume of work reaches a certain point it is the practice of the State to provide both accommodation and staff, unless there are exceptional circumstances.