HC Deb 28 November 1946 vol 430 cc369-70W
Mr. H. Hynd

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what demands are being put forward by the Seamen Workers Union, of Trinidad, in the present strike; whether the Government of Trinidad has discussed these demands with the shipping and docks authorities and with the union; and whether police intervention in the strike has been necessary.

Mr. Creech Jones

The Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union requested a revision of their Agreement of March last with the Shipping Association, to provide for a 50 per cent. increase in wages with a reduction of hours of work. The request was not considered justifiable by the Association. After a meeting between representatives of the union and the association, under the chairmanship of the acting industrial adviser to the Government of Trinidad, both parties were invited to submit the case to arbitration. The union was unable to agree to this course and, in contravention of the terms of the agreement, called a strike on 8th November. Since that date the services of the acting industrial adviser, as mediator, have been available to both parties and though both employers and workers have now agreed to refer the matter to arbitration, conditions, which each have attached to their agreement in this respect, have yet to be reconciled.

I have no information that the intervention of the police in the strike has been necessary, but they have in the normal execution of their duties, charged the president of the union and several others on a complaint that two men who objected to the action of the union had been assaulted and imprisoned at the union's headquarters. The arrested men have been released pending trial on the charges laid.

On 21st November the Trinidad Government issued a statement that it was essential for the well being of the population that the troops, which had been offloading food supplies during the emergency, should be replaced by civilian labour as soon as possible. Volunteers were called for, and have offered themselves in numbers adequate to meet requirements.