HC Deb 24 March 1981 vol 1 cc791-2
3. Mr. Renton

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many representations he has received on the Green Paper on trade union immunities.

Mr. Waddington

So far, I have received representations from about 30 organisations and individuals. However, consultations are due to last until 30 June. In view of the importance and complexity of the issues raised in the Green Paper, I do not expect to receive comments from the major organisations in industry until later in the consultative period.

Mr. Renton

Bearing in mind the strong wish of many trade unionists for further action to limit the closed shop and for compulsory secret ballots before some strikes, do my hon. and learned Friend and his Front Bench colleagues intend to introduce further legislation on trade union immunities in the life of this Parliament?

Mr. Waddington

I know how concerned people are about the closed shop, which may have come into prominence particularly as a result of what has happened at Sandwell, and about secret ballots. We are not committed to legislate during the course of this Parliament, but neither are we committed not to legislate. This is genuine consultation. We shall consider arguments and representations during this period and then decide in the light of all the evidence what it is correct to do.

Mr. Cryer

Does the Minister agree that the legal position of trade unions barely allows them to function and that their allegedly powerful position has apparently not stopped unemployment rising to 2 ½ million? Does he further agree that this is eroding the position of the trade unions, and that that is part of the Tory Government's policy? Is it not true that the Tory Government wish to see free trade unions operating only in Poland, and not here in the United Kingdom?

Mr. Waddington

It is bizarre to assert that the present law barely allows trade unions to operate. Trade unions in this country have privileges which are not granted to trade unions in almost any other country in the world. We are glad that they can operate effectively to look after the interests of their members, but we do not consider that they should have carte blanche to inconvenience and damage the community as a whole.

Mr. Madel

Is my hon. and learned Friend aware that many industrial managers are very satisfied with the Employment Act 1980 as it affects trade union immunities, and that, in view of the employment difficulties and the need for co-operation with the trade unions, such managers are very cautious about whether the Government need to take any further action for the time being?

Mr. Waddington

My hon. Friend is entirely right if he is saying that we must carefully assess the practical effect of further measures before introducing them. It is no use putting new laws on to the statute book if they do not advance industrial relations or the liberty of the individual trade unionist. But that does not mean that we should just sit and do nothing. We must listen to the representations, hear all the arguments and then decide what is right.

Mr. Skinner

Does the Minister recall that, before the introduction of the recent picketing laws, Tory spokesmen were saying that those laws would enable them to curb any actions in industrial disputes? Does he now accept that, arising out of the unofficial miners' strike, particularly in Wales, the picketing laws then on the statute book were swept away in respect of both secondary and tertiary picketing? Would it not be sensible to drop any proposals to introduce further laws and to get rid of those already on the statute book?

Mr. Waddington

My right hon. Friends said nothing of the sort. They said that there were abuses which had to be dealt with, that it was outrageous that masses of people should be picketing outside workplaces other than their own. We came to power, and we have dealt with that abuse, as with other abuses. That is what we set out to do, and that is what we have achieved.