§ 69. Mr. Hector Hughesasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will detail the number, qualifications, work and tenure of office of official labour and trade union advisers to the Governments in the respective African British Colonies.
§ Mr. HopkinsonThere are heads of Labour Departments in all the territories concerned except Zanzibar (where the senior Commissioner acts as Labour Commissioner) and Somaliland, and these officers are responsible for advising the Governments on trade union and labour matters.
They are employed generally on permanent and pensionable terms, a few being engaged on contract. They are either officers of the Colonial Administrative Service with suitable local experience and aptitude or men sent out from the United Kingdom with experience in labour administration or in the trade union movement.
Broadly speaking, the aims and duties of every Labour Department are:
- (a) Advice to Government on labour matters generally.
- (b) The encouragement of collective bargaining and where necessary the institution of statutory wage fixing machinery.
- (c) The study of existing labour organisations and unions and advice on principles of organisation and collective bargaining.
- (d) The improvement of industrial relations by maintaining constant contact with employers and workers and providing all possible help in conciliating the parties to trade disputes.
- (e) The introduction of regular and systematic inspection of all work-places with a view to establishing healthy and decent conditions and reducing accidents to a minimum.
- (f) The protection of women and juvenile workers.
- (g) The enforcement of labour laws.
- (h) Periodical review of labour laws in relation to international labour conventions.
33 - (i) The introduction and supervision of workmen's compensation schemes.
- (j) The introduction of public employment exchanges where necessary.
- (k) The collection and publication of statistics on various matters connected with labour.