§ Mr. F. ROBERTSasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether his attention has been drawn to a dispute involving workers unemployed by the Stationery Office; whether any undertaking has been entered into as to work being performed by non-union labour; and whether any steps are being taken to deal with the matters in dispute?
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§ Major BOYD-CARPENTERMy attention has been drawn to the matter referred to. I would remind the hon. Member that the conditions of employment in the Stationery Office are not in any way responsible for the dispute, and that the Office has been brought into the matter only on account of a dispute between a Trade Union and a private firm having a contract with the Department. I ought perhaps to add that the strike was entered upon without notice and was, I regret, contrary to an agreed resolution of the Departmental Industrial Council, Which provided that, in the event of dispute, the Industrial Council should meet before the employés in the Stationery Office works and warehouses were withdrawn. The matter has been the subject of exhaustive consideration at special meetings of the Departmental Industrial Council and every effort is being made to reach a settlement. In the circumstances I would prefer to make no further statement on the matter at the present time.