§ 54. Mr. Stokesasked the Minister of Labour what arrangements have now been made so as to enable engineering firms short of skilled and semi-skilled labour to employ Poles.
§ Mr. IsaacsI would refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Cardiff Central (Mr. G. Thomas) on 22nd January.
§ Mr. StokesIs my right hon. Friend aware that the answer he gave was not very clear as to the exact procedure and could he give a little more direction to those who have to implement the policy it outlined?
§ Mr. IsaacsIf the House will permit me I will refer to that aspect of the question. The instruction states that energetic steps have to be taken by the Ministry to find suitable available British labour. If British labour is not available and the employer wants labour we inform him that other labour is available, but he himself must make contact with the local branch of the union. If, having done that, he comes back to us and says that he wants Polish labour we will not stop him.
§ Mr. StokesWhat happens if the union concerned do not agree? Does the employment collapse or does the employer proceed anyway?
§ Mr. IsaacsIf the employer was the hon. Member for Ipswich (Mr. Stokes) I could not imagine him collapsing. The point is that the employer must take some share of the responsibility. We ask him to contact the trade union branch and if he comes back and says he has done so we ask no questions. If he says he is proposing to take this labour we assume he has weighed up all the advantages and disadvantages before deciding to take it.