HC Deb 17 February 1986 vol 92 cc1-2
1. Mr. Strang

asked the Secretary of State for Energy whether he has any plans to meet the chairman of the National Coal Board to discuss representations on behalf of miners who are still dismissed as a result of incidents during the 1984–85 industrial dispute; and if he will make a statement.

The Secretary of State for Energy (Mr. Peter Walker)

I meet the chairman regularly to discuss all aspects of the coal industry.

Mr. Strang

Is the Secretary of State aware that the Scottish group of Labour Members is incensed by the cursory and dismissive letter from the chairman of the board on this issue? Does he recognise that 130 miners and their families in Scotland are still suffering from the dispute, and that they have the support of a broad range of opinion, including local authority representatives, the police and the churches? Will he ask the board, particularly in Scotland, to adopt a more compassionate approach?

Mr. Walker

Of those dismissed during the strike, 75 have been reinstated and a number of others are appearing before industrial tribunals, which are making various decisions. This is a matter for the management, who must decide on each case.

Mr. Mason

How many of those miners sacked at the conclusion of the strike still wish to be reinstated? The figure must run into hundreds. They lost 12 months wages during the strike and nearly another 12 months while on the dole. Is not victimisation being taken too far? What is the right hon. Gentleman prepared to do to try to help these men?

Mr. Walker

I watched what happened during the dispute and I have never agreed that all those who took part in the dispute had a right to return, irrespective of whether they caused violence or damage.

Mr. Barron

Does the Secretary of State accept that the call for the men to go before industrial tribunals was made from the Government Dispatch Box? When those tribunals find that men have been unfairly dismissed by the Coal Board, should he not make the Coal Board take them on again? Some of my constituents were found to have been unfairly dismissed, but months later they are still labouring in the dole queues in south Yorkshire.

Mr. Walker

If a tribunal suggests that a person's job should be restored and the employer, whether the Coal Board or anyone else, decides not to reinstate, compensation is available. The hon. Gentleman and many others suggest that all miners should be restored to their previous positions, but some tribunals have rejected that proposition.

Mr. Eadie

The Secretary of State and others on the Government Front Bench have advised aggrieved miners to go to an industrial tribunal. Some industrial tribunals find that men are unfairly dismissed and suggest that they be given back their jobs. Does the right hon. Gentleman not agree that parading a bogus neutrality before the House offends opinion everywhere?

Mr. Walker

The hon. Gentleman says that if a Labour Government were in power they would decide whether an employee should be kept on. That has never happened under a Labour Government, nor do I think it would happen if a Labour Government were in power.

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