§ 3. Mr. John Hallasked the Minister of Labour if he will consider recording and publishing the total time lost throughout industry as a result of a strike in one industry or section of an industry.
§ Mr. HareAs my predecessor stated in reply to a Question by the hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Mr. Woollam) on 11th May, it is not practicable to produce accurate figures of time lost at establishments affected by an industrial dispute elsewhere. However, as an experiment, we intend to try to obtain a rough estimate on an annual basis of time lost resulting from disputes in the motor car industry.
§ Mr. HallIs my right hon. Friend aware that we welcome that answer, because it is an undoubted fact that, although the time lost in industry directly affected by a strike may not in itself be very great, it may affect other industries very seriously indeed, and it would be of value to know the exact cost of a strike in any industrial dispute?
§ Mr. HareI thank my hon. Friend. I think he would agree that it is impossible to obtain accurate figures of time lost in any dispute which had wide ramifications, such as a dock strike, which could affect factories from John o' Groats to Land's End. We should require a huge staff to acquire and sift information which could be obtained only by making frequent and widespread inquiries.
§ Mr. HallIs my right hon. Friend aware that there are many returns now called for by the Government from industry, and that it would be a comparatively simple matter to get industry to record on one of those returns the time which it was estimated was lost as a result of industrial disputes elsewhere?
§ Mr. HareI hate to argue with my hon. Friend, but industry has said that it is already asked for too many returns.
§ Mr. PrenticeWould the Minister agree that figures produced by the I.L.O. comparing time lost by strikes in the leading industrial countries throughout the world—worked out on the same basis for each country—show that the time lost in Britain was the lowest? Would he agree that perhaps too much publicity is given to strikes and not sufficient attention given to constructive efforts by both sides of industry to settle a number of complex problems peacefully throughout the year?
§ Mr. HareWhat the hon. Member says is quite correct; settlements made through the normal negotiating machinery get very little advertisement, but a great deal is done in that way. However, I do not think we should underestimate the damage to the economy done by a strike such as the recent dock strike. Some of these figures may be misleading, but I think it is very difficult to get exact comparison. That is why I replied as I did to my hon. Friend the Member for Wycombe (Mr. John Hall).