§ Mr. Roy Mason (Barnsley, Central)With your permission, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and that of the House, I beg leave to present a petition from the joint trade union committee of the food division of Allied-Lyons plc, initially signed by Mr. Sam Vickers of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union, Mr. Malcolm Self of the Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs, and Mr. John Reed of the Electrical, Electronic Telecommunication and Plumbing Union—three senior shop stewards—backed by the signatures of 671 workers of the Barnsley bakery.
The workers in Allied-Lyons are alarmed at the threat to their jobs because of the proposed takeover bid by Elders IXL Ltd. of Australia. They fear that if the bid is successful, Elders IXL will hive off the food division of Allied-Lyons and the 1,500 workers in the Barnsley bakery believe that they will lose their jobs, especially because of the asset-stripping history of Elders IXL and the nature of the bid. They also believe that this foreign firm will disregard any social consequences of such an act, which could be quite disastrous in an area of 20 per cent. unemployment in the Barnsley, Central constituency.
The petition reads:
Wherefore your petitioners humbly pray that your Honourable House will urge the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to take into account these factors when considering the desirability of such bids for the economy of the United Kingdom.And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray, etc.To lie upon the Table.