§ Mr. THOMAS RICHARDSONasked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that the work of repairing table telephones in the factory at Mount Pleasant, for which the piece-work price has hitherto been 2s. 6d., has been offered to a man to perform for 1s. 2d., out of which he has to pay two boys; and, seeing that the result is that the man will receive about 11½d. for work previously remunerated at 2s. 6d., will he say what action he will take?
§ Mr. HERBERT SAMUELOwing to simplification of design and increased output, the cost of table telephones has decreased very considerably in the past five years, and as it no longer pays to repair instruments in bad condition, the average work required on each defective instrument is considerably less. Some of the work, moreover, which was originally associated with the repair of these instruments has now been detached. As the work to be done has thus quite changed the piece-work rate will be reduced from 2s. 5d. to 1s. 4d. This rate has not yet been actually applied, the repairs being at present performed on day-work rate until the workmen become fully acquainted with the work. When more than one person works on a particular instrument the amount fixed for the repair is apportioned by the Controller of Stores to each member of the "team." It is considered that the proposed rate will give the workmen a satisfactory profit over520W their day-rate when the repairs are given out on piece-work, and I do not think that any action is called for.