HL Deb 21 February 1980 vol 405 cc993-6WA
Lord ORR-EWING

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will list separately, for each of the following categories, those developed Commonwealth countries and those Western European countries in which trades union legislation—

  1. (a) does not permit a closed shop;
  2. (b) allows secret ballots financed or partially financed out of public funds:
  3. (c) does not permit secondary blacking and picketing; and
  4. (d) limits the number of primary pickets.
education. The following table sets out, under the heads requested (in so far as the information is available), the Government's assumed levels of local authority expenditure in 1980–81, compared with actual expenditure in previous years:

The MINISTER of STATE, DEPARTMENT of EMPLOYMENT (The Earl of Gowrie)

For those countries in Western Europe and in the developed Commonwealth for which we have information available, the position appears to be as follows.

The Closed Shop. Closed shop agreements are unlawful in most Western European countries but lawful in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

Funds for union ballots. In Australia funds may be made available for union elections. In New Zealand, they may be made available in certain circumstances where a Minister requires a ballot on industrial action.

Secondary picketing and secondary blacking. There are wide differences between legal systems in different countries. Nevertheless, secondary industrial action, and particularly picketing, is much less common in most other European and developed Commonweath countries than it is in Great Britain. In general terms, the law on trade union immunities allows trade unions in Great Britain greater scope for secondary industrial action than does trade union law in other countries.

Statutory limit on the number of primary pickets. There are no countries in which a statutory limit is placed on the number of primary pickets. However, in Canada, an employer faced with a mass picket may seek an injunction to have the numbers reduced.

House adjourned at seventeen minutes before eight o'clock.