§ 35. Mr. Dickensasked the Minister of Labour if he will initiate discussions with the authorities in the public sector with a view to ending the distinctions in the conditions of employment for manual and non-manual employees.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsThere has been some progress in eliminating such distinctions in the public sector of employment. The advantages of staff status schemes are widely appreciated, but I think further progress can be best made in the context of negotiations about pay and conditions.
§ Mr. DickensIs my hon. Friend aware that her reply is, on the whole, very disappointing? The need is for a new Government initiative to break down this apartheid in industry. This completely unfair discrimination between manual workers and staff employees is entirely unacceptable to many of us on this side of the House.
§ Mrs. WilliamsI would again repeat that my Ministry is very much in favour of this kind of thing, but my hon. Friend must recognise that we need to leave a certain amount of freedom about priorities to those engaged in collective bargaining.