Mr. Churchill informed the House on Wednesday that his order
of October 13th, giving an increase of 12* per cent in their wages to three hundred thousand skilled time-workers in munition works, had been extended so as to give the increase to all time-workers, whether skilled or unskilled, engaged on engineering work in muni- tion factories and shipyards. Thus nine hundred thousand men will receive an additional £14,000,000 a year. Mr. Churchill explained that the object of the concession was to deter men paid by the day from leaving their employment and seeking the more remunera- tive piece-work, but he admitted that piece-workers might now be tempted by the higher day-wage. He declined to give a direct reply to the pointed question whether increased wages bad led to in- creased production. There is a widespread belief to the contrary, though Mr. Churchill said that the individual munition worker's efficiency is " undergoing a process of increase." The light-hearted way in which one Department after another sanctions these vast increases of wages must inspire grave uneasiness.
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