§ 43. Mr. Silvesterasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity how many employees are now covered by cost of living sliding scale agreements; what she estimates has been the average percentage increase in their rates of pay on account of the rise in prices since November, 1967; and in how many cases increases based on a cost of living sliding scale have exceeded 3½ per cent. in a 12-month period.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerAbout 375,000 manual workers are now covered by cost-of-living sliding-scale arrangements 193W under the provisions of national collective agreements. I regret that the other information is not available in the form requested because the cost-of-living provisions in the various agreements do not follow a standard form. The 375,000 manual workers now covered received cost-of-living increases amounting to £160,000 in weekly rates of wages during the period end-November, 1967 to end-January, 1969. These figures exclude the total amount of £210,000 paid to building and construction manual workers in March, 1968 since the cost-of-living provisions in their national agreements have now terminated.