§ 4. Mr. Canavanasked the Secretary of State for Energy when he next expects to meet trade union representatives in the offshore oil industry.
§ Dr. J. Dickson MabonMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy and I meet frequently with trade union representatives to discuss all aspects of the offshore oil industry. We attach great importance to the role of the unions in safeguarding the health and safety and improving the conditions of those who work in the oil industry.
§ Mr. CanavanWill my right hon. Friend discuss with the trade unions what action can be taken to stop the unfair discrimination by employers against British divers in the North Sea? Is it not absolutely intolerable that many British divers are finding it difficult to get work because employers are prepared to employ divers from other countries, such as America and South Africa, who come over here without work permits and who are willing to accept longer spells of duty and more stringent work conditions than British divers?
§ Dr. MabonI must confess that British divers have been very active in pointing out the disadvantages which they suffer as against other divers in the North Sea. My hon. Friend knows that the Secretary of State and I, with other members of the Government, have worked very hard in looking at the anomalies and to seek to make sure that British divers are encouraged in their work. That has been achieved. I must confess that my hon. Friend's letter to me raises a matter of concern. He has raised it again today. I am looking into it and we shall be discussing it with OILCO—the Offshore Industry Liaison Committee—in a month's time.
§ Mr. GrayWill the Minister remind his hon. Friend the Member for West Stirlingshire (Mr. Canavan) that the divers as a profession do not wish to become union members and that they have achieved by their own private enterprise means a return to their original status as self-employed persons? It is 752 unlikely that they would have achieved such a satisfactory conclusion if they had been union members.
§ Dr. MabonThe hon. Member must recognise that whether a person is employed or self-employed does not necessarily mean that in the former case he is in a union and that in the latter he is not. It is an entirely free decision of any diver whether or not to join a union. All I say is that the divers' collective representations on diving to me and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State were successful because they were collective.
§ Mr. EmeryMay I declare an interest? When will the Government introduce the regulations which they have been talking about for the last four years to safeguard the training of divers so that we do not have people coming in from other areas who are able to take away jobs from British divers who have the right specification of training?