§ 15. Mr. Loveridgeasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will now encourage the TUC and the CBI, and representatives of the nationalised industries, to hold discussions with a view to fixing an annual date for all major wage claims.
§ Mr. Chichester-ClarkSuch a proposal would present considerable practical difficulties.
§ Mr. LoveridgeI appreciate what my hon. Friend says. Does he not agree that the leapfrogging of wage claims, which sometimes happens within the same industry, is a contributory cause of rising 353 prices, and that it is at least worth working towards an annual date for each industry?
§ Mr. Chichester-ClarkI understand my hon. Friend's point about leapfrogging. I am not sure that the synchonisation of terminal dates would necessarily bring an end to leapfrogging. There would undoubtedly be a high once-and-for-all cost in getting negotiators to accept differing lengths of agreement to bring all terminal dates into line.
§ Mr. MolloyI f the hon. Gentleman finds difficulty in raising the points enumerated by the TUC and the CBI, may I ask whether he is prepared to discuss with those bodies what should be done to prohibit the actions of asset strippers such as Slater Walker, which has threatened firms in my constituency with take-over bids to such an extent that factories have been closed and hundreds of men have been thrown out of work? Does he realise that the land has been sold so as to ward off take-over bids? Is he aware that this has happened in the glass container industry, which is overloaded with orders and cannot meet either its domestic or export orders? Is the hon. Gentleman prepared to consider that example of industrial behaviour?
§ Mr. Chichester-ClarkI do not comment on the example given by the hon. Gentleman. I am bound to say that few hon. Members could accuse the Government of being unwilling to discuss any matter with the TUC or the CBI. Neither the TUC nor the CBI has expressed any interest in the idea of a common date.
§ Mr. FellI s my hon. Friend aware that it utterly impossible for the country to evisage with any equanimity an annual rise of approximately 10 per cent? Will he kindly consider when it became the fashion for all wage-earners to demand an annual rise as opposed to a rise when they really need one?
§ Mr. Chichester-ClarkThat question might provide me with some interesting historical research. I am not sure whether I am prepared to carry it out at this moment.