HC Deb 09 July 1970 vol 803 cc832-4
28. Mr. Raphael Tuck

asked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity when he intends to introduce legislation for the reform of the trades unions.

31. Mr. John Page

asked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity when he will present his Bill on Industrial Relations.

Mr. R. Carr

I shall introduce a comprehensive industrial relations Bill as soon as possible.

Mr. Tuck

Is the Minister aware—[Interruption.]

Mr. Speaker

Order. It is not in order for an hon. Member to wave to Mr. Speaker to attract his attention.

Mr. Tuck

I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, that I was not waving. Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that since taking its recent powers the T.U.C. has intervened in over 150 industrial disputes and has saved the country over two million man-days, and that this could not have happened under legislation of a "keep-the-unions-in-their-place" type which is so ardently desired by the Conservative Government? Will he look at this matter seriously before rushing headlong at the problem bull-at-a-gate?

Mr. Carr

My right hon. Friends and I have often paid tribute to the work done by the T.U.C. under Mr. Victor Feather. I do not wish to detract from that. But I am also aware that in this last year there has been an escalation in the number of strikes and working days lost through strikes of very serious proportions, and that last year was much worse than any previous year. We are, certain that action is needed. I should like to assure the hon. Member that our action will be to reform the whole of industrial relations, not just the trade unions.

Mr. Page

Is my right hon. Friend aware that on 18th June the country clearly gave its answer that enlightened legislation on industrial relations is desired. Is he also aware that he will be supported by his back-bench Members in this legislation, in contradistinction to the way in which the right hon. Member for Blackburn (Mrs. Castle) was treated by her back-bench Members a year ago?

Mr. Carr

I am quite sure that the country is aware of the need for a more orderly framework for the conduct of collective bargaining, which is what we shall be providing.

Mr. Orme

Will the Secretary of State put some of his hon. Friends in training to do jobs on the docks and on the railways, where they will be needed if a Bill of the nature proposed by the Secretary of State is brought in? Is he not aware that to shift the question purely from unofficial to official disputes might put this country in line with the United States and Australia where, with the aid of legal sanctions, disputes are four times greater than they are in Britain?

Mr. Carr

I do not accept any of the premises put by the hon. Gentleman, nor do I believe that he voices the opinions of the vast majority of those who work in industry in this country.

Sir G. Nabarro

While warmly endorsing my right hon. Friend's remarks, since the legislation he proposes is certain to be extremely complex in character would he consider issuing his Bill in the first week of September so that we shall all have ample opportunity to study it during the Summer Recess, before we come back to the House fully refreshed in the second week of October?

Mr. Carr

I shall issue the Bill as soon as possible, after proper consultation.