The Military Training Bill The Government.may well be gratified with
the progress the Military Training Bill is making in the House of Commons. The measure's smooth passage is due largely to the Government's willingness to accept a number of reason- able amendments, some of them from the Opposition benches. One of the most important ensures that employers shall reinstate the militiaman under conditions not less favourable than those in which he would have found him- self if he had not been called up. An employer who evades his liability in that regard must now give the equivalent of twelve weeks' wages instead of four as originally proposed. The men who have served six months are to be credited with 30 unemployment insurance stamps and thus become eligible for full statutory benefit. An interval of a month after train- ing is to be allowed, during which a man who has completed his training can apply for reinstatement or seek other work. Finally, dissatisfaction that was not confined to the Opposi- tion benches has been met by increasing the rate of pay to s. 6d. a day. Married men whose wives will receive the customary 17s. and allowances for children will be required to make a compulsory allotment of 3s. 6d. a week from their pay to supplement this. All these changes improve the Bill as originally introduced, though there is perhaps some danger of underrating the seriousness of the burden laid in various ways on employers.
Previous page
