§ Mr. Dixonasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate of the number of people employed by companies which do not provide overtime pay; what is his estimate of the annual wages paid by those companies to those employees; and what is his estimate in percentage terms of the extent to which the wages of those employees have lagged behind the increase in the retail price index in the last year, the last two years and the last three years, respectively.
§ Mr. Chichester-ClarkIt would not be possible to make such estimates without extensive inquiries involving disproportionate cost, but my information suggests that this type of agreement is not widespread.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT as much detailed information as may be available, giving the numbers of hospital and auxiliary staffs, railwaymen, gasworkers, teachers, Ford workers and others who were on strike during the recent industrial disputes and the estimated costs to the economy.
§ Mr. Chichester-ClarkInformation about these and other stoppages of work is still being collected for the official series and will be included in the statistics to be published in the next issue of the Department of Employment Gazette. Meanwhile, it is already known that at least 22,000 railway workers took part in the national one-day stoppage on 28th February 1973. I regret that no estimate is available for the economic costs.