§ 10. Sir Richard Glynasked the Minister of Labour which member-States of the International Labour Organisation have now agreed to comply with the recommendation on termination of employment.
§ The Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour (Mr. Ernest Thornton)Member States are not 11 obliged to state whether or not they agree to comply with International Labour recommendations. I understand, however, that, in addition to ourselves, the Governments of India, the Ivory Coast, Japan and Switzerland have so far indicated agreement with the general principles of the recommendation.
§ Sir Richard GlynWould the hon. Gentleman and his right hon. Friend agree that these recommendations involve onerous obligations which have not yet been accepted by our principal trade rivals either in the Common Market or in E.F.T.A. or across the Atlantic? In these circumstances, will the Government exercise caution in imposing these obligations on British manufacturers, thus causing inflation in this country and rendering their goods less competitive as exports in overseas markets?
§ Mr. ThorntonThe law and practice in this country already conform in many respects to the recommendation and, as announced last December in Cmnd. Paper No. 2548, the Government propose to discuss with representatives of employers and trade unions the provision of procedures to give effective safeguards against arbitrary dismissal. I should point out that this recommendation was agreed by all the members of the United Kingdom delegation to the conference.