WORKS COUNCILS BILL (Hansard, 9 May 1973)

§ Mr. David Steel (Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles)

I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to make the establishment of works councils, assemblies of employees and departmental meetings compulsory in all employment; and to give works councils co-decision making powers in areas particularly affecting employees and the right to be properly informed of company plans and progress. I seek leave to introduce this Bill against a background of an escalation of industrial strife. In the first half of the 1960s, in an average year we lost about 2.5 million working days through industrial disruption. In 1968 that went up to 4.5 million working days lost. In 1971 it went up to 13.5 million days. The suggestion is that once the figures for 1972 are available it will be shown that the country lost the staggering number of 24 million working days through industrial strife. The only other country in Europe which has as bad a record is Italy, which, like us, has no works council legislation on its Statute Book. Several of our new European partners, notably Holland, France and West Germany, have such legislation, and the climate of industrial relations in those countries is vastly better and healthier than it is here.

I believe that it is timeous to introduce such a Bill at this stage when the European Commission is itself considering the framework of a European company code and recommending to member States an examination of the German company legislation.

Against the background of the failure of the Industrial Relations Act—an Act which even the Government are coming to regard as a dead letter—it is necessary to bring about a better climate of industrial relations. I believe that the country is sick and tired both of the confrontation between the Government and the trade unions and of that which exists at industrial level between employers and employees. Therefore, my first submission is that against a background of that sort my Bill is highly relevant.

The Bill would propose to establish by law a works council in every company with more than 20 employees. Moreover, it would require in every works where 499 there were more than 50 persons employed the holding of regular departmental meetings to discuss the organisation of work in any plant. It would impose an obligation on employers to give the necessary time for those elected to works councils to pursue their statutory activities. The Bill would empower the appropriate Minister to establish industrial boards to supervise the setting up of works councils and to give advice in so doing.

The functions of the works councils would be extremely important and would be defined in the Bill. We would require them to consult and co-operate with management on such matters as job evaluation, wage structures and piece rates. We would give them responsibility for consultation with management on such matters as working times, holidays and overtime arrangements.

In other words, they would not be the sort of works councils we have in some firms which are merely glorified canteen committees. There would, by reciprocal arrangements, be a duty on employers to consult the works councils particularly on such matters relevant to today's economy as takeovers, mergers and redundancies, matters on which at the moment they may be all manner of consultations or none at all, but at any rate very little with those who work in the firms concerned and whose fates are directly affected.

I believe that there is evidence of a growing national interest in the whole 500 subject of worker participation, an interest shown not only in the Press and the academic world but even in the Labour and Conservative Parties. It is my belief that sooner or later we shall have legislation roughly along these lines. It is therefore right that we should at any rate provide some service in bringing forward detailed proposals for publication, should the House decide to give leave.

These proposals are designed to bring about a far greater level of job satisfaction, which is at present missing from so much of our industrial life, to replace confrontation with participation and so at the end of the day to help increase productivity to the benefit of the economy and the country.