§ Mr. Burdenasked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he is aware that skilled craftsmen are leaving the dockyards because of the higher wages they can obtain in other employment; and what steps he proposes to take to arrest this loss of men essential to the full and adequate manning of the dockyards in the present circumstances.
§ Mr. J. P. L. ThomasThe wages of craftsmen in H.M. dockyards are settled by negotiation with their trade union representatives on the Shipbuilding Trades Joint Council, and are based on those paid in the engineering industry. They are thus broadly comparable with those paid in outside industry. There is no evidence that any large numbers of craftsmen are leaving the dockyards simply because higher wages are offered by private employers.