Royal Ordnance Factories (Hansard, 13 March 1984)

§ 8. Mr. Fisher
asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will ensure that there is no diminution of the legal and trade union rights of any employee working for or in the royal ordnance factories.

§ Mr. Pattie
The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 provide for the automatic transfer of existing trade unions' rights from one undertaking to another. Employees transferring to the incorporated royal ordnance factories organisation will therefore continue to be entitled to remain members of, and be represented in negotiations by, the same trade unions to which they currently belong in their Civil Service employment.

§ Mr. Fisher
Will the Minister address himself to the legal rights and, in particular, the pension rights of ROF employees? Will he say when he will publish details on pension rights, what they will cost, how they will be funded, and what the terms will be?

§ Mr. Pattie
As the hon. Gentleman knows, the Standing Committee will deal with those matters shortly. I hope that the information he seeks will be freely available by then.

§ Mr. Greenway
Will my hon. Friend confirm that it is against Queen's Regulations for service personnel to join trade unions and that there is absolutely no thought in his mind about changing the position?

§ Mr. Pattie
That is correct.

§ Mr. McNamara
Will the Minister reconsider his reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent, Central (Mr. Fisher)? Tradesmen are entitled to retain their trade union membership in the services so long as they do not play an active part. That is readily understood and has been practised in the armed services for generations.

§ Mr. Pattie
As the hon. Gentleman knows, that membership has a particular form of restriction attached to it, which was the spirit of the question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Greenway).