GLOUCESTER GAS ORDER, 1935. (Hansard, 18 December 1935)

§ LORD TEMPLEMORE
My Lords, I beg to move that these Special Orders be agreed to.

§ LORD MARLEY
My Lords, I should like to say a word or two about the Gloucester Gas Order. It is not possible now to alter that Order, but I should like to ask the Government if they would be good enough to secure that in the case of similar Orders in future the Board of Trade should give special consideration to one point. The Gloucester Gas Company is changing over from the sliding scale system of conducting their business to the newer arrangement by which gas companies have a basic price of gas and a basic dividend. What I want to ask is that, when the employees of a company making a similar change are asked to choose whether they wish an old plan of paying a bonus on wages to be continued, or whether there should be the more usual scheme of profit-sharing or co-partnership, the Board of Trade will secure that the workers are given a picture of both sides of the question so that they can judge what will be the effect.
249 In this particular case the Gloucester Gas Company put before the workers their picture of what would be the result to the workers, and the workers, having only heard one side of the case, unanimously accepted the recommendations of their gas company, They never heard the other side, which does in fact exist. I hope, therefore, that the Board of Trade, who drew the attention of your Lordships' Committee to the fact that there was not included in this Gas Bill the normal arrangement for a sum of money to be transferred to the workers equivalent to any excess income divided amongst the shareholders, will secure that in future the workers have both sides of the question put before them before they come to a decision.

§ LORD MARKS
My Lords, I happened to be a member of the Committee in which this matter was considered yesterday. We had before us one of the men, who was deputed by the whole body of workers, who had heard the explanation of the scheme, to come to us and give us his view on behalf of the men. They were entirely satisfied with that which had been explained. They understood it, and, further than that, they preferred the scheme which was then in operation to the one which was offered.

§ LORD MARLEY
My Lords, if the noble Lord will excuse me, that is what I said to the House. The men voted unanimously in favour of this scheme. I did not say anything different from that. What I said was that they only had one side put before them. They did not hear the other side, and my point to the Government was, can the Board of Trade not secure that, when the men are deciding, they shall hear the other side as well?

§ LORD MARKS
My Lords, the men heard, apparently, all that could be said with reference to the scheme that was to be proposed and brought forward. There was a representative of the trade union present also to support and protect the men if need be. They could have done something different from that which they did. They might have written, they might have put an appeal or a petition before the Committee, instead of which they chose the very peculiar system of writing to one member of the Committee upon it. That, I think, is somewhat irregular, and some of us felt that as well.

LORD STRABOLGI
My Lords, I was also a member of the Committee and heard the discussion. With great respect to the noble Lord, I think he missed my noble friend's point. My noble friend and myself are not criticising the scheme, but it is a fact that in their gas company and in public utility companies there is a different scheme, which may be better or worse. We want to be sure in the future that, where there is an alternative scheme, it may be put before the men so that they may at any rate have it before them as well.

§ LORD TEMPLEMORE
My Lords, my noble friend Lord Marley has appealed to me to take certain action. I did not know, until a few minutes before I came in, that he was going to raise this subject this afternoon, or I might have been prepared with a fuller answer. All I can say at the moment is that I will bring his remarks to the notice of my right honourable friend the President and we will see what can be done in future eases.

§ LORD MARLEY
I am very much obliged to the noble Lord.