§ 45. Mr. Ewingasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many trade unions he has met to discuss their claim to be treated as special cases under the Government's anti-inflation policy.
§ Mr. Maurice MacmillanDuring 1973 my hon. Friend the Minister of State and I have so far met representatives of 29 trade unions as part of a continuing programme of consultation on the counter-inflation policy. All of them had special problems which they hoped the pay code could be drafted to accommodate but none sought to be exempted from the provisions of the code. In drafting the stage 3 code the Government have had regard to the views expressed by these unions as well as by the TUC, CBI and other organisations, and where possible have eased the problems through the greater flexibility of the present code. At the same time the Government have made it clear to all concerned that there can be no special cases outside the terms of the code.