§ 4. David Cairns (Greenock and Inverclyde)What discussions she has had in the course of her consultation on the rights of Sunday shop workers in Scotland. [101098]
§ The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mrs. Helen Liddell)My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary and I have had discussions with various business and retail organisations and trade unions in the course of the consultation on Sunday working in Scotland.
§ David CairnsHas my right hon. Friend met a single individual who car justify Scottish shop workers having fewer rights than shop workers throughout the rest of the United Kingdom? Does she agree with the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, who said:
we should fully protect the rights of those who work on Sundays in order that we may Shop then … employee protection must go hand in hand with the freedom to shop."—[Official Report, 29 November 1993; Vol. 233, c. 822.]?
§ Mrs. LiddellMy hon. Friend makes an important point. I congratulate him on introducing a private Member's Bill to ensure that Scottish workers have the same protection as workers in England and Wales. If businesses had been prepared to honour the voluntary agreement that was put in place at the time of deregulation in England, the problem need not have arisen. I am happy to report that almost all the workers from Argos who lost their jobs in Aberdeen have reached a satisfactory settlement with the company, and I pay tribute to all my hon. Friends who made that possible.
§ Andrew Selous (South-West Bedfordshire)Is the right hon. Lady concerned that many supermarket workers in England and Wales have to put up with five-out-of-seven-day contracts and that there is not much choice for any of them? Is it part of her brief, perhaps at some time in the future, to examine the rights of workers other than shop workers in that regard?
§ Mrs. LiddellI would say to the hon. Gentleman that that is a very clear sign of why people should join trade unions. Indeed, at the forefront of the campaign to ensure equality between Scottish and English shop workers has been the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers. In a fair society, it is right that the sort of employment protection that this Government have developed should ensure that people have equal rights both north and south of the border. That is something to which the Government give priority.