§ 39. Mr. ButlerTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on his proposals to reform the pre-entry closed shop.
§ Mr. NichollsOur Green Paper "Removing Barriers to Employment", which was published on 20 March, contains the proposal that legislation should provide a right of complaint to an industrial tribunal for any individual whom an employer refuses to engage on the 141W ground of non-membership of a trade union or of any particular trade union, or on the ground of refusal to agree that he will become a member after his employment has started. The Government believe that this proposal, together with existing legislation, would create a climate in which individuals will no longer have their livelihoods threatened simply because they are not members of a particular union or do not wish to belong to any union.
§ 42. Mr. CranTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what estimate he has as to the number of workers in the United Kingdom covered by pre-entry closed shop restrictions.
§ Mr. NichollsOur Green Paper "Removing Barriers to Employment", which was published on 20 March, estimates the total number of people covered by all types of pre-entry closed shop arrangements in Great Britain as being of the order of 1.3 million. This estimate is derived from a recently specially commissioned survey, a summary of which has been placed in the Library.
§ 70. Mr. John BrowneTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many representations he has received following the publication of his Green Paper "Removing Barriers to Employment" on the reform of the closed shop; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NichollsOur Green Paper "Removing Barriers to Employment" was published on 20 March and the closing date for comments will be 20 June. We are, therefore, in the very early stages of the consultation period. To date we have received four representations on our proposal concerning the pre-entry closed shop and all expressed support for the Government's proposals.