§ 15. Mr. SternTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many registered dock workers there are in the ports of south Wales.
§ Mr. Wyn RobertsThere are 587 dock workers registered in the five south Wales ports covered by the scheme.
§ Mr. SternI thank my hon. Friend for that reply. Does he agree that however few registered dock workers are left in the ports of south Wales, there will be even fewer if there is a dock strike in the next few weeks? Does he agree that, as a Bristol Member, I am the perfect disinterested party to ask this question, since if there is trouble in the south Wales ports it will inevitably redound to the benefit of Bristol?
§ Mr. RobertsI agree that there is really no reason for a strike, and if there is one, it can result only in a further loss of jobs. It would help us all—dockers and the House—if the Opposition declared their attitude to a strike unequivocally. Are they for a strike or against it?
The ports in the scheme in Wales have suffered a reduction in the number of jobs over the years and a decline in trade, whereas the non-scheme port of Neath has experienced an increase of about 60 per cent. in the tonnage that passes through it.