§ Mr. BOWERMANasked the Postmaster-General if he is aware that, since the award of 1907 regulating the wages of mail-cart drivers, an agreement has been come to under the auspices of the Board of Trade which embodies more favourable rates of pay to men similarly employed; and whether he can see his way to apply such conditions to drivers in the service of the Post Office?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEThe Postmaster-General in 1907 laid down wages for the drivers of horse-drawn mail vehicles in London, which were to be regarded as complying with the Fair-Wages Clause in Post Office contracts, only because it seemed impossible to say that there was at that time any fair wage recognised by employers and men. I am aware that since that date an agreement has been come to, and it was not without regard to942W the terms of that agreement that I expressed myself as satisfied that the present conditions of employment of the mail-cart drivers in London comply with the Fair-Wages Clause.