§ Mr. BROADasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that men employed at the Royal Victoria Yard, Deptford, are only receiving £2 2s. 10d. for a full week's work and that many of them have to pay 4s. 6d. and more per week in railway fares; and if, in view of the inadequacy of this wage to provide the bare necessities of life for a man with a wife and four children, he will inquire into these conditions?
§ Mr. AMERYThe lowest rate of wages for an unskilled labourer at the Royal Victoria Yard, Deptford, is £2 4s. a week, from which National Insurance contributions are deducted. The rate of wages is the same as in the Government Departments at Woolwich and is not less than is paid by employers of labour in commercial engineering establishments. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for War has informed Members of Parliament who made representations to him regarding the wages of labourers at Woolwich, that there will be no objection to the reference to arbitration of a claim for an advance in wages based upon the principle of the Fair Wages Resolution, and the wages at Deptford would, of course, be affected by the finding of the Court in any such arbitration.
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