HC Deb 27 November 1945 vol 416 c1052
2. Major Guy Lord

asked the Minister of Labour how much longer it is proposed to maintain the Essential Work Order.

Mr. Isaacs

I would ask the hon. and gallant Member to await the comprehensive statement about labour controls which I hope to make shortly.

Major Lloyd

In anticipation of that Bill statement may I ask whether it is not a fact that this Order has outlived its usefulness to a large extent? Is it not of the utmost importance that discipline should be restored to many workshops and factories, which restoration the Essential Work Order makes impossible?

Mr. Isaacs

No, Sir, I cannot accept the suggestion that the Order has outlived its usefulness. It is serving a useful purpose. There may be one or two isolated instances to the contrary, but in the main it is still very valuable to industry.

Captain Crowder

Cannot the Minister ask his officers, anyhow, to be a little more lenient in regard to the direction of women who have come out of the Services?

Mr. Isaacs

The Essential Work Order is a different matter altogether from-direction of labour.

Mr. Kirkwood

Is my right hon. Friend aware that, if he allows the Essential Work Order to be rescinded, the most highly skilled engineers, the marine engineers, will at once seek higher wages and salaries than are now being paid to them in the shipyards?