Mr. POINTERasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he was now able to state the results of his inquiry 2859W into the allegations made against Messrs. Vickers, Sons, and Maxim, John Brown and Sons, and Thomas Firth and Sons, all of Sheffield, that they do not observe the fair contracts clause on work for the War Office in the employment of engineers and joiners; whether, before arriving at any conclusion, he fully consulted the men's organisations; if so, whether the evidence they tendered was in any important points contradictory to that of the employers; and, if so, would he state in what particulars they differed?
§ Colonel SEELYWhen the original representations were received from the Sheffield District Engineering Trades Union, the Union was given the opportunity of furnishing further particulars. The whole of the information received, both from the employers and the trade society, was very fully considered. As regards the woodworkers, it has been decided that the Fair Wages Clause does not require that the employment of woodworkers in manufacturing operations in the steel and engineering works of Sheffield shall necessarily be regulated by the rules recognised by employers and trade societies in the local building trade, as the conditions of employment and the character of the work differ so greatly. As regards the metal workers, it appears that there has not been any uniform wage or scale of wages recognised or generally prevailing in the Sheffield steel and engineering trades, and that workers have been paid according to their skill or competency, on the analogy of the principle recognised in the general agreement of October, 1907, with the Employers' Federation. In these circumstances there does not seem to have been an infringement of the Fair Wages Clause. It is, however, stated in a recent communication from the Union that the question of the wages to be paid to fitters and turners on attaining the age of twenty-three has been discussed with the employers, since the date on which representations were made to the War Office, and that an agreement has been arrived at. Further inquiry will therefore be made as to the precise scope of this settlement and the extent to which it may affect the situation.