HC Deb 20 June 1927 vol 207 cc1503-4W
Mr. HAMMERSLEY

asked the Minister of Labour the latest information in the possession of his Department in

Industry and year to which the figures relate. Average full-time hours per week.
Males. Females. All Workpeople.
Cotton (1926)* … … … 53.8 52.8 53.3
Woollen and Worsted (1926)* … … … 49.3 49.3 49.3
Hosiery and Underwear (1924)† … … … 51.6 50.4 50.7
* "Monthly Labour Review," February, 1927.
† "Wages and hours of Labour in the Hosiery and Underwear Industry, 1907 to 1924."
Particulars of the average full-time hours per week in each of the principal occupation in the cotton and textile industries in the United State, extracted from the same source, were published in the "Ministry of Labour Gazette, for April, 1927.

reference to the hours of labour in the textile industries of Germany and the United States?

Mr. BETTERTON

The latest information in my possession regarding hours of labour in the textile industries of Germany is taken from the results of an investigation made by the German Federal Ministry of Labour in October, 1926, and published in "Reichsarbeitsblatt" for 10th February, 1927. It was found that, out of 307,386 workpeople in the various textile industries, representing 33 per cent. of the total number of workpeople employed in these industries, the proportions working 48 hours, under 48 hours and over 48 hours a week were as follow:

Weekly working hours and percentages of workpeople working these hours:

Per cent.
42 hours and under 11.47
Over 42 and less than 48 hours 12.29
48 hours 12.93
Over 48 and up to 54 hours 57.65
Over 54 to 60 or more hours 5.66
100.00

It is stated that, in those undertakings in which the weekly working hours exceeded 48, a 53-hour week appeared to be general.

As regards the United States, the following figures relating to the average weekly hours of labour ascertained as the result of official inquiries covering a selection of representative establishments, in the cotton, woollen, and hosiery industries, are extracted from the publications of the United States Department of Labour: