§ 78. Sir C. Osborneasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity if she is aware that the United Kingdom-Australia Container Service which was scheduled to start next month will now quit British ports and use Rotterdam instead, because of the dispute arising from the refusal of the Port of London dockers to allow their ships to be handled; and is she will intervene to resolve the dispute so as to enable the service to use the Port of London as planned.
§ Mr. HattersleyI am aware that it has been decided to operate this service from Rotterdam for the time being. I understand that implementation of a pay and productivity agreement to operate the terminal at Tilbury is linked, in the view of the union concerned, with current negotiations on the second stage of the Devlin modernisation programme covering the port as a whole. My Department is in touch with both sides with a view to assisting progress in these negotiations.