§ 34. Mr. J. Silvermanasked the Minister of Labour whether he is aware that mass dismissals of workers engaged in industrial disputes are endangering industrial peace; and if he will call a conference of both sides of industry in order to discuss means of improving conciliation machinery so as to prevent such situations arising.
§ Mr. Iain MacleodIf the hon. Member is referring to recent events in the motor industry I am, of course, aware of the position and my Ministry keeps closely in touch with it. But these difficulties are more than matters of machinery and I have no grounds for thinking that a conference of the kind suggested would serve a useful purpose.
§ Mr. SilvermanIs the Minister aware that I am referring specifically to the sort of action which has been taken in relation to the Norton Motors strike, and which has been taken by several firms? In the event of an industrial dispute the practice has been to sack all the people on strike. Does not the Minister agree that that is a course of action likely to create great industrial bitterness and to prolong the dispute?
§ Mr. MacleodOf course, it is possible that industrial bitterness can come from any redundancy or large-scale alteration in size of a labour force. The Answer which I gave to the hon. Member's main Question was that these are much more than machinery matters. I believe that the existing machinery is adequate. Part of the trouble is that frequently the machinery is not used, and often there are not early enough consultations with the unions most concerned. It should always be the case that negotiation should start from the beginning of any proposal which may effect the size of a labour force.