§ 12. Mr. Duffyasked the Secretary of State for Employment what arrangements of an administrative nature his Department has made for work-in situations.
§ Mr. BryanMy Department's normal practice of keeping in touch with developments in disputes covers such situations.
§ Mr. DuffyDoes not the hon. Gentleman appreciate that work-ins such as that which recently occurred at U.C.S. and that which is already beginning at the River Don steel works, Sheffield, require much more than that? Does not he agree that his Department by now should be showing some appreciation of its responsibility for this fundamentally important area, that is, the worker's day at work? For example, how will his work-in affect the worker in the stamping of his card, or in the responsibility for industrial injury or industrial disease, or in the reckoning of service for pension, or in his access to company-based canteen and sports clubs? This is just the beginning of the thinking which the Department should be displaying evidence of doing. Is the hon. Gentleman prepared to undertake early consultations with the T.U C. about these matters?
§ Mr. BryanThis sort of situation is fairly new and is obviously something which my Department is studying carefully. That can be guaranteed. For redundancies and so on, we have the well-known "job teams" and all the drill associated with them. But this is a new situation which makes it extremely hard for our normal drill to operate. I assure the hon. Gentleman that we are studying the situation.