§ 2. Mr. Osborneasked the Minister of Labour into what trades principally have the 9,500 miners been absorbed who were dismissed by the National Coal Board during 1949 for persistent absenteeism and industrial misconduct.
§ Mr. IsaacsThis information is not available. Some of these men have reentered coalmining employment at other pits. Separate records of the trades into which others have gone are not maintained.
§ Mr. OsborneIs there any regulation to debar these men from going back to the pits if they so wish, especially in view of the shortage of manpower in the mines?
§ Mr. IsaacsOh, no. Quite the contrary. The National Coal Board are willing to take the men back if they are likely to carry on in the industry.
§ Mr. HarrisonCan my right hon. Friend say whether it is still the practice to keep what they used to call " black lists " of men who were blacklisted from one colliery company to another, so that those men were not employed anywhere in the district in which they had been black-listed?
§ Mr. IsaacsI think the previous answer I gave shows that no such black list is kept, because a number of these men have been re-employed.