§ Mr. Leslieasked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs whether the Industrial Conciliation Amendment Bill, which has been gazetted in Southern Rhodesia, was submitted to him for his approval; and, if so, on what grounds he agreed to the deletion of the provisions for the engagement of native workers in industry at wages neither so low as to defeat the object of the agreement nor so high as to deprive natives of such employment as 879W they would have had without the agreement, thus enabling wages to be fixed which would exclude natives from any employment in the industries concerned?
Mr. M. MacDonaldThe Bill in question was referred to me before it was introduced and I discussed it with the Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia when he was in London last summer. It was represented to me that the provision to which the hon. Member refers had been found in practice not to be workable and that the amending Bill was necessary in order to avoid the object of the original Act of 1934 being defeated. That object was that skilled labour in the townships, including apprentices, should be protected from competition from low-paid, unskilled labour.
§ Mr. Leslieasked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs whether his attention has been drawn to the refusal by the Bulawayo Master Builders and Allied Trades Association in Southern Rhodesia to admit to membership the Bulawayo Timber Industries, on the grounds that they had employed natives on screwing or nailing, and that there was an agreement within the association that no natives should be employed in skilled work; whether this agreement is in line with His Majesty's Government's policy in Southern Rhodesia; and will he make a statement on the subject?
Mr. M. MacDonaldI have seen a reference to this matter in the Southern Rhodesia Press, but the exact facts of the case are not clear from the report. I understand that representations on behalf of the Bulawayo Timber Industries have been made to the Government of Southern Rhodesia. This is not a matter on which His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom have any right to intervene under the Constitution.