HC Deb 02 June 1908 vol 189 cc1710-3
MR. BELL (Derby)

I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether it is not incumbent on the Board of Trade to protect men from arbitary dismissals by railway companies, chiefly on account of the positions they hold, who have been elected by their fellow workmen to represent their grievances to the directors or on the Conciliation Boards under the agreement arrived at on the termination of the railway men's agitation on 6th November last year; whether his attention has been called to a number of men who have been recently dismissed under those circumstances by the Midland Railway Company, and whether he will hold an inquiry into the causes of such dismissals at which the men shall have opportunities of meeting the company's officials to prove their cases.

MR. CHURCHILL

With regard to the particular instances of dismissal of men on the Midland Railway, I may remind my hon. friend that in two of these, to which he drew my attention by the Question which he asked on the 28th ultimo, an explanation has already been furnished by the railway company. In the first case (that of W. Charter) they state that the dismissal was, with others, rendered necessary solely by declining traffics and bad trade outlook, and the notice was issued to him before he had taken the action for which he is alleged to have been dismissed. In the second case in which it was represented that an employee elected to a conciliation board (W. Carter) has been suspended, the company declare that their decision in the matter was taken in the interests of discipline. I understand that it is suggested that three other men, whose names have been sent to me by my hon. friend have been dismissed by the Midland Railway Company because of their connection with movements for improved conditions of service, and I am communicating with the company with regard to their cases, and will also forward to the railway company any observations or criticisms which my hon. friend may desire to make on the facts as stated by them in regard to these, or the two cases I have first mentioned. Speaking generally, however, the Board of Trade cannot undertake to secure the immunity from dismissal upon ordinary grounds of railway employees elected on to the conciliation boards or prominent in connection with the working of the conciliation scheme settled in November last. If I were led to believe that men were being systematically or deliberately dismissed or reduced on account of their position as representatives of the employees, I should be bound to take such action as may be open to me to protect the character of the conciliation boards. So serious a charge could not, however, be preferred without direct and extensive evidence. The general manager of the Midland Railway emphatically repudiates any suggestion of the kind. I will continue to watch carefully the general process of setting up the new conciliation boards, and will inquire specifically into any personal cases which my hon. friend may bring to my notice, but I have no statutory power to enforce such an inquiry as he is asking for, nor do I feel that I could usefully make a friendly proposal for one at the present juncture.

MR. BELL

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that a member of another board of the Midland Railway has been discharged to-day for taking the chair at a meeting on Sunday last; that the reply given by the general manager in regard to the man Charter is inaccurate and not fully stated; and for those reasons is the right hon. Gentleman now prepared to hold an inquiry before which the men may have an opportunity of stating their case?

MR. CHURCHILL

If my hon. friend will put me in possession of any further facts I will give the matter immediate attention, but at present I do not see that I can add anything to the statement I have made.

MR. BELL

Is it not possible for the right hon. Gentleman to invite the general manager and an official, whose name I will give him, to attend at his office and at the same time give the men an opportunity of facing those officials?

MR. CHURCHILL

It is possible for me to invite the representatives of either party to the Board of Trade, but it is not possible for me to ask them to meet unless both parties are agreeable. That I cannot do.

MR. BELL

This is a very serious matter. We have to choose between this and perhaps a general strike, and the result of the last agitation was to avoid a strike. May I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether he will invite the general manager of the Midland Railway Company to appear at his office and also the officials whose names I will give him and give them the opportunity of declining to come? I will also give him the names of the men who ought also to be invited.

MR. CHURCHILL

I am quite certain that if I were to invite any of these officials to come to the Board of Trade at present they would come, of course, as a matter of courtesy. But I should not like to issue such an invitation as the result of a pledge given in the House of Commons. That would add compulsion to what must necessarily be a voluntary operation. I am quite ready to consider very carefully what immediate steps should be taken in regard to a matter which I thoroughly agree is a question of high public importance.