§ 85. Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity whether she is aware of the increasing number of take-over bids of firms and organisations where at no stage are the workers in the industries concerned consulted; and whether she will take steps to initiate a code of conduct to ensure that before such take-overs are finalised the workers concerned must be consulted and give their approval by means of a democratic ballot.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerThe need for consultation with employees and their representatives about all aspects of manpower planning and the handling of redundancies is stressed in the booklet "Dealing with Redundancies" published by my Department in July. A requirement that314W the acquisition of a company should be subject to prior approval by a ballot of its employees is neither desirable nor practicable.