9. Surgeon Lieut.-Commander Reginald Bennettasked the Minister of Labour how many man-days have been lost each year from 1945 to 1949 by reason of official and unofficial strikes, respectively.
§ Mr. IsaacsAs the reply includes a table of figures I will, if I may, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
Surgeon Lieut.-Commander BennettCan the right hon. Gentleman explain why the proper constitutional machinery for negotiation is ignored on such a large scale nowadays?
§ Mr. IsaacsThat is another question.
§ Mr. McCorquodaleIs not it a fact that there have been no official strikes in this period?
§ Mr. IsaacsThere has only been one, and that was by coach builders some time ago.
§ Following is the reply:
§ The information available does not permit a distinction to be made between official and unofficial stoppages. The approximate number of working days lost owing to stoppages of work due to industrial disputes in each of the five years 1945 to 1949 was as follows:
| 1945 | … | … | … | 2,835,000 |
| 1946 | … | … | … | 2,158,000 |
| 1947 | … | … | … | 2,433,000 |
| 1948 | … | … | … | 1,944,000 |
| 1949 | … | … | … | 1,807,000 |