§ Mr. Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of labour disputes in which the Department's conciliation and advisory service was involved in the years 1972 and 1973, respectively, and if he will give, in each case, the annual percentage of cases in which help was requested by (a) trade unions, (b) employers, and (c) jointly.
§ Mr. Chichester-ClarkIn 1972 my officers conciliated in 716 collective disputes, in 61 per cent. of which assistance was requested by trade unions, 14 per cent. by employers and 20 per cent. jointly. Figures for 1973 as a whole are not yet available but in the first half of the year the figures were 415, 57 per cent. 16 per cent. and 24 per cent. respectively. I will write to the hon. Member shortly when the full figures for 1973 are available.
Fatal Severe* 1970 1971 1972 1970 1971 1972 Coal and Petroleum Products … … 0.008 0.006 0.009 0.63 0.46 0.45 Chemical and allied industries … … 0.007 0.008 0.005 0.66 0.49 0.60 Metal Manufacture … … 0.014 0.014 0.012 1.31 1.16 1.01 Mechanical engineering … … 0.003 0.003 0.004 0.80 0.71 0.66 Shipbuilding and Marine engineering … 0.013 0.012 0.017 1.05 0.81 0.87 Leather, leather goods and fur … … 0.011 0.005 0.003 0.22 0.34 0.33 Bricks, pottery, glass, cement etc. … … 0.012 0.007 0.009 0.99 0.84 0.87 Timber, furniture etc. … … 0.005 0.004 0.004 0.77 0.80 0.86 Construction … … 0.019 0.019 0.018 0.81 0.75 0.80 * The definition is specific to notifications under the Factories Act: it is wider in scope than "serious bodily injury" under the Mines and Quarries Act.