Earl ALEXANDER of TUNISMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to curb the coercive recruiting tactics revealed in the recent report on trade union recruitment by Andrew Leggatt, QC.
The MINISTER of STATE, DEPARTMENT of EMPLOYMENT (The Earl of Gowrie)My Lords, we intend to provide greater protection for employers and employees against the coercive recruitment tactics revealed in the Leggatt Report in our Bill on industrial relations which we hope to publish before the end of the week.
Earl ALEXANDER of TUNISMy Lords, I thank my noble friend for his reply. Can he tell the House whether Her Majesty's Government are satisfied that this Bill will restore to workers the right to join, or not to join, unions as they choose?
The Earl of GOWRIEMy Lords, I think that that is rather wide of the general issue. The responsibility for ensuring that trade unions do not use the sort of tactics raised by the noble Earl's Question in our view rests in the first instance with the trade union movement itself. The report nevertheless shows that under the law as it stands there is often no protection for someone whose business is threatened by an action such as blacking 688 taken by employees of another company to coerce his employees into membership of a particular union. So the Government think it essential—I can meet the noble Earl to this degree—that the law should provide such protection.