§ Mr. Michael Brownasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will refer to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service the pay dispute of the Transport and General Workers' Union with the National Coal Board in the opencast mining industry.
§ Mr. MayhewI assume that my hon. Friend is referring to the dispute between the TGWU and the civil engineering contracting firms which undertake mining operations on the National Coal Board's opencast sites.
I have no power to refer a dispute for conciliation by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service. I understand that ACAS is in touch with the parties to his dispute but that it is currently being dealt with in the industry's disputes machinery.