109. Major Lloydasked the Minister of Labour if he is aware that some 200 workers at Messrs. Stern & Co., refrigerator manufacturers, Hillington, Glasgow, have been dismissed as redundant, and that one of the reasons given for this dismissal is the incidence of high Purchase Tax on the manufactured product; and what action it is proposed to take to safeguard the livelihood of these men.
§ Mr. IsaacsI am aware that workers have recently been discharged by this firm. So far as I know the redundancy is due to the lack of orders for the present type of smaller refrigerator but the firm are introducing a new design and are confident that its sales potential is large. By internal re-arrangement the number discharged was kept down to about 150. Some of these have already been placed in other employment and36W every effort is being made to find suitable work for the remainder.