§ Mrs. Fennerasked the Minister for the Civil Service if he will consider introducing an independent conciliator to bring the parties together in the present pay dispute of the professional and technical officer grades.
§ Mr. ChannonNo. The pay claim made by the Institution of Professional Civil Servants on behalf of professional and technical staff falls wholly within the terms of the Civil Service arbitration agreement, which provides for pay disputes to be referred to the independent Civil Service arbitration tribunal. This machinery has operated successfully for over 50 years in resolving differences over Civil Service pay claims, and is entirely appropriate in this case. I have therefore urged the institution to take its claim to the tribunal if it cannot accept the official420W grades represented by the Institution of Professional Civil Servants, in the departmental grades of printing officer, technical officer and works overseers; their pay is linked to that of the professional and technology group of the Civil Service. These grades have the same conditions of service as their counterparts in the general service grades in the Civil Service, except that some works overseers have more advantageous terms in respect of overtime payments, night and shift allowances.
The minimum and maximum of the respective salary scales in 1.4.78 and 1.1.80 terms—the latter calculated based on the official side's offer for the professional and technology group—are as follows:
side's offer, and I have confirmed that the Governent will accept the award of the tribunal. I very much regret that it has chosen instead to take industrial action for which there can be no possible justification. There are no grounds whatsoever for departing from the established machinery in this case.