§ Sir A. KNOXasked the Minister of Labour the average rates of pay and 2258W hours worked by bricklayers in Belgium and France, and how these rates and hours compare "with those in England?
§ Sir A STEEL-MAITLANDI regret that the available statistical material is insufficient to enable me to give my hon. and gallant Friend the information he requires regarding the average rates of pay of brickmakers in Belgium and France, or to provide a satisfactory basis for comparison with the rates paid in this country. The information I have regarding the working hours of brickmakers in these countries is as follows. In Belgium, the working hours of brick-makers in rural brickworks may not exceed 10 a day in summer (15th April to 15th October), nine a day in winter, and an average of eight a day over each six-monthly period. In brickmaking by machinery, working hours may not exceed 108 a fortnight and 10 a day in summer, and 84 a fortnight and seven a day in winter. In France, the working hours of brickmakers appear to vary from eight to nine a day. In Great Britain the normal working hours fixed by agreement between the employers' and workers' organisations in the principal centres of the industry are 48 a week.