§ 49. Mr. Haseldineasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity, arising from her examination of the matter, if she will encourage and initiate a regular programme of exchanges between trade unions, professional and managerial organisations in this country and those in member states of the European Economic Community, and particularly for their younger members, in preparation for the United Kingdom's entry into the European Economic Community.
§ Mr. HattersleyWith permission, I will circulate a list of existing facilities in the OFFICIAL REPORT. I believe them to meet the present need.
Following is the information:
Exchanges of Young Workers
1. Most exchanges of young workers (including student employees, industrial trainees etc.) are arranged individually by employers through direct contacts. Others are arranged by non-governmental bodies such as the International Association for the Exchange of Students for technical experience, the British Hotels and Restaurants Association and the International Exchange of Young Agriculturalists.
2. There are also two official schemes. The O.E.C.D. scheme for the International Clearing of Vacancies and Applications for Employment which was originally a Western European scheme, is primarily concerned with placing persons aged 21 or over seeking employment abroad. It is not on a "head to head" exchange basis and the number of applications in both directions are not large.
288W3. The Western European Convention concerning student employees covers young people between the ages of 18 and 30 who wish to go to another country for a period of up to 12 months to improve their linguistic and occupational knowledge. It does not cover short-time or vacation employment or "head to head" exchanges.
Visits under the O.E.C.D. Labour/Management Programme
4. The O.E.C.D. Labour/Management Programme is designed to bring representatives of trade unions and employers' organisations of the Member Countries into working contact with each other. Each year, the O.E.C.D. authorises visits by joint missions of trade unionists and employers to other countries. In recent years, the United Kingdom has received three missions from E.E.C. countries and another one will be coming later this year.
Department of Employment and Productivity Assistance to other Visits
5. The D.E.P. has co-operated in a number of visits by representatives of trade unions and professional and managerial organisations from the E.E.C. countries. In addition, there have been many visits with which the Department has not been concerned.