HC Deb 08 December 1919 vol 122 cc922-3W
Mr. WILKIE

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty if the Fair-Wages Resolution is still applicable to Government Departments; and, if so, is it the intention of the Admiralty to apply it to the Royal dockyards by differentiating between wages paid on new and repair work, as is done by private employers?

Dr. MACNAMARA

The Resolution referred to by my hon. Friend is still applicable. As regards the second part of the question, I would remind my hon. Friend that the question of wages of mechanics in His Majesty's dockyards has recently been the subject of arbitration on the application of the various societies, and that the claimants in putting their case both to the Admiralty and to the Court of Arbitration gave due prominence to the difference between the rates for repair work and for new work commonly obtaining for shipyard trades in commercial ports. The advance, 2s. a week, awarded by the Court of Arbitration applies equally to men on new work and on repair work, and leaves the rates equal, as they always have been in His Majesty's dockyards.