WORKS COUNCILS. (Hansard, 11 March 1930)

§ Mr. MANDER

I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to provide for the establishment of consultative works councils in factories and workshops. In introducing this Bill, I am endeavouring to make a sincere contribution to the new order in industry of partnership and co-operation. This Measure is based upon chapter 8 of the well-known Liberal Yellow Book, and is an attempt to put into legislative form the proposals in that chapter. While it represents Liberal policy, I feel there are Members in all parts of the House who will be in sympathy with the proposals of the Bill. I am quite certain that hon. Members opposite, when they have had an opportunity of studying the details of the Measure, will find themselves in full sympathy with it, and I believe the same may be said of many hon. Members on this side. The Leader of the Opposition made on one occasion a very notable speech in which he used the words "Peace in our time." I believe he meant that quite sincerely, and the proposals in this Bill are in full sympathy with the ideas of that speech, though I dare say it goes a good deal further than he would perhaps care about at the present time.

In asking permission for the Bill to be introduced, I am only asking that it may be printed, in order that the Clauses and the Schedules may be carefully studied. The House will not be committed in any way to the principles of the Bill, but only to the idea that the proposal is one worthy of consideration and of study to see whether it is not capable of being made into a useful piece of legislation. In Sweden and Germany there are Measures on the Statute Book similar to the one I am proposing, and I am not bringing forward this Bill as a mere theorist, because every single proposal in it has been in active operation in my own business for a number of years past. I have been chairman of the works committee there, with a workman as vice-chairman, and I am certain that everyone who has served on that council during many years will agree that it has been of great use to the employer and to the employed, and has created a splendid feeling of good will and helpful sympathy on all sides.

1112 The actual proposals of the Bill are that on the appointed day there should be set up in every factory with more than 50 employés a works council representative of every section of persons working there, whether directors, managers, office staff, technical staff, foremen or workmen. It is intended that the Ministry of Labour shall set up a Works Council Advisory Committee in order to frame suitable rules for factories in different industries, and that in constituting that, Advisory Committee the Ministry shall consult the General Council of the Trade Union Congress, the National Confederation of Employers' Associations and the Association of Joint Industrial Councils. The functions of these works councils must necessarily be consultative, it is impossible to interfere with the functions of management, but what will be ensured is that when the management has to take action it will be fully informed of and familiar with the views and the wishes of every section in the works, and therefore will naturally desire to conciliates and work with them. There is a proposal that on appropriate occasions, and subject to agreement, both sides, employers and employed, shall have the right to bring in representatives of their organisations. In my own particular case we have had all the time the advantage of the presence in an advisory capacity of the secretary of the trade union, and found him very helpful and useful indeed. No proposal of this kind would have or should have any hope of success if it were started with the idea of weakening the power of trade unions. It must be based on trade union co-operation, just as much as on the cooperation of associations of employers.

The duties of these councils would be, first of all—mentioning only a few of them—to discuss the various matters relative to the conduct of factories which are indicated in the Schedule of the Bill. Another duty will be to agree upon suitable rules to be put in force in factories. No doubt in many cases the existing rules would be adopted at once, but instead of having orders imposed from above, as is the case at the present time, you would try to get the consent and agreement of the persons who have to obey the regulations, try to get government by consent in a factory instead of dictation from above. Another duty will be to provide appropriate machinery for dealing with appeals against dismissals whether they 1113 be regarded as cases of victimisation, as sometimes unfortunately happens, or dismissals for reasons of inefficiency. If a man or woman thinks he has got a reasonable cause for appeal he can be assured that a sympathetic hearing will be given to him by some appropriate tribunal, again without interfering with the right of the management to take the final action and to have the final authority. That is essential. There is no intention of interfering with that. Another duty the works council would perform would be that if owing to a shortage of work a number of the hands had to be discharged the men themselves would he consulted beforehand, in order that the discharges might take place in such a way as to be least embarrassing to the unfortunate people concerned.

I have given a brief indication of what the Bill contains. The intention is to try to introduce the personal element, the human touch, into industry once more; to try to make everybody feel that every business is the joint concern of all those who are connected with it; to try to set up machinery which will enable the workers as well as the employers to share in the control, in the conduct and in the profits, and what is more, take their own share in the increased dividends of human happiness and industrial prosperity which, I believe, would arise from a Measure of this kind.