§ Mr. Leightonasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will circulate in theOfficial Report a table showing the increase in wage rates and earnings of oil-tanker drivers, petroleum refinery 291W operatives and workers in the coal, electricity and gas industries over the past 12 months and over the past seven years.
§ Mr. Jim LesterI am afraid that the information requested with respect to oil-tanker drivers is not available from official sources.
The available information is as follows:
PERCENTAGE INCREASE* IN AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS OF FULL-TIME MALE MANUAL WORKERS AGED 21 AND OVER WHOSE EARNINGS WERE NOT AFFECTED BY ABSENCE IN THE SURVEY PERIOD
Industry Between April 1978 and April 1979† Between April 1972 and April 1979† Coil-mining … 16.3 250 Mineral oil refining … 11.0 188 Gas … 18.7 179 Electricity … 20.0 168 Source: New Earnings Survey. * Based on complete samples in successive surveys. † The change in earnings between successive Aprils will reflect any changes in the timing of pay settlements e.g. a 12 month period will normally reflect a single annual settlement but may exceptionally reflect more than one settlement or no settlement at all. Figures on changes in wage rates comparable to those on earnings shown above are not readily available.