§ 12. Mr. ANDERSONasked the Secretary to the Admiralty whether he is aware that the proposals of the Admiralty with respect to yard and workshop committees are encountering opposition from the organised workers on the ground that they do not grant recognition of the trade unions and that the scheme, as it stands, is regarded by the workers not as a concession but as a danger and in direct violation of the principles advocated by the Whitley Committee; whether, if the Government recommends the Whitley Report to private employers, it is proposed to adopt the same principles in dealing with its own employés; and whether he proposes to take steps to remove the trade union objections to the scheme?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAAs I explained in an answer last Thursday to my hon. Friend the Member for the Westhoughton Division, the scheme for the appointment of shop and yard committees in the Royal dockyards and naval establishments is a draft scheme, issued for the particular purpose of canvassing the views of officers, workmen, and workwomen, upon it. We have received a number of representations. These and others which may come to hand will of course receive careful consideration. As a matter of fact, I received two deputations on Friday last which put certain views before me upon the matter. I have a number of other deputations to receive, and am arranging, in consonance with the suggestion contained in certain Resolutions which have reached me, to call a conference of representatives of all the trades unions of which our employés may be members, to discuss the matter at an early date.