§ Sir I. Alberyasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that some of the labourers employed at a R.N.A. Depot, of which he has been informed, who have returned to work after being discharged from the Army, complain that they have been penalised by their war service in not being up-graded as skilled labourers, as they would have been if they had not been called up in the Armed Forces; that they are suffering a disadvantage which will continue after the war as against men who joined the R.N.A. Depot at a later date; and whether, in such cases, the pledge of reinstatement given to serving men is being fully implemented?
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Mr. AlexanderFour ordinary labourers, who were called up under the National Service (Armed Forces) Acts have returned to their former civil employment at R.N.A.D., Upnor, following discharge from the Forces. All four men have been reinstated exactly in accordance with the provisions of Section 14 of the Act of 1939, that is to say as ordinary labourers. There is no guarantee that they would have been upgraded to skilled labourers had they not been called for service in the Forces. In common with all the ordinary labourers in the establishment, they are eligible for upgrading as skilled labourers as vacancies occur, subject only to the test of suitability; they suffer no disadvantage in this respect by reason of their service with the Forces; and have made no complaint or representations on this subject to the appropriate local officers.