§ Mr. Binnsasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity what progress has been made in implementing the recommendations of the Commission for Industrial Relations in regard to the recognition dispute between the Amalgamated Union of Engineers and Foundryworkers and B.S.R. Limited, East Kilbride.
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§ Mr. Harold WalkerThe main consequence of the C.I.R.s activities was that the company recognised the union and that the parties entered into an agreement designed to regulate the procedures for the conduct of industrial relations at the East Kilbride factory. The company and the union have accepted the recommendations of the Commission and are engaged in joint discussions as to their implementation. Encouraging progress has been made. My Department is in close touch with developments. I understand also that following the issue of the C.I.R.s report the company has agreed to recognise the General and Municipal Workers' Union in respect of production workers at its three factories in the Midlands (though these factories were not within the scope of the reference) which previously it had refused to do.
These developments show that the C.I.R. can be instrumental in transforming a situation of intractable dispute into one of peace and considerable promise for good industrial relations in the future.