Ports (Hansard, 20 June 1989)

§ 23. Mr. Thornton
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he plans to meet the general secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union to discuss industrial relations in the ports; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Nicholls
My right hon. Friend has no such plans.
Industrial relations in scheme, and non-scheme ports are a matter for employers and their employees. The Government's proposals for the abolition of the dock labour scheme provides an opportunity for ports which evolve new arrangements to secure better industrial relations and fewer strikes.

§ 77. Mr. Franks
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many registered dockers under the dock labour scheme are currently on the temporary unattached register; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Nicholls
According to National Dock Labour Board registers for 30 May 1989 there were 130 registered dock workers then on the temporarily unattached register.
The temporarily unattached register is a product of the dock labour scheme. It maintains registered dock workers on basic pay even though they are not working and is funded by a levy on employers in scheme ports. No other industry bears the cost of such a requirement. The Government are abolishing the scheme so that scheme ports can compete on equal terms.

§ 73. Mr. David Nicholson
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what volume of Britain's overseas trade 119W is currently handled by dockers working in ports (a) covered by the dock labour scheme and (b) those outside the scheme; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Nicholls
Department of Transport port statistics for 1987 show that 51 scheme ports handled 59.73 per cent. of the volume of overseas trade, while 35 non-scheme ports handled 40.26 per cent.
Ports which bear the costs of the dock labour scheme have lost a substantial share of trade to ports outside the scheme over the past 25 years. They have also lost jobs while jobs in non-scheme ports have grown. The Government are abolishing the scheme to allow all ports to compete on equal terms and win the business needed to sustain jobs.

§ 66. Mr. John Townend
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the current industrial dispute in the ports covered by the dock labour scheme.

§ Mr. Nicholls
It is a matter for the port employers to decide how they wish to respond to unofficial strikes by a minority of registered dock workers. I hope that dock workers will look to their future, and respond to the port employers offer to negotiate locally about arrangements to be established after the dock labour scheme is abolished.

§ 67. Mr. Barry Porter
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to reintroduce casual labour into dock labour scheme ports after abolition of the statutory scheme.

§ Mr. Nicholls
The Government believe that there is no evidence that there can be a return to widespread casual work. Modern ports have no need of it.
Without the scheme's restrictions, non-scheme ports employ few casual workers and employers of 93 per cent. of dock workers in scheme ports have given assurances not to return to a system of casual work. They have indicated a willingness to examine this and other issues on the same port-by-port basis as already applies to other workers in scheme ports and to the one in three dock workers in ports outside the scheme.

§ 56. Mr. Brazier
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many applications for redundancy have been received from dock workers working in ports covered by the dock labour scheme; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Nicholls
My right hon. Friend has no means of knowing how many inquiries have been made to employers by registered dock workers about redundancy following the abolition of the dock labour scheme.
The Dock Work Bill which abolishes the scheme provides for the Government to contribute 50 per cent. of payments of up to £35,000 for any registered dock worker who is made redundant in the 18 months following the abolition of the scheme, and 50 per cent. of payments of up to £20,000 in the 18 months thereafter. This will provide redundancy compensation of many times normal statutory requirements and will be in addition to entitlements to early retirement pensions available under the registered dock workers occupational pension scheme from the age of 50 onwards.

§ 41. Mr. Jacques Arnold
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received120W about negotiations between dock workers and their employers in scheme ports; and if he will make a statement.

§ 61. Mr. Riddick
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received about port-by-port negotiations between dock workers and their employers; and if he will make a statement.

§ 97. Mr. David Davis
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received about the port-by-port negotiations between dock workers and the port employers; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Nicholls
On 4 May the deputy general secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union wrote to my right hon. Friend urging negotiations with the employers about a national agreement to replace the scheme.
It is for employers and employees to decide the form of negotiations which best meets their needs. The Government note that the Transport and General Workers Union negotiates locally about terms and conditions for all other workers in Britain's ports, in and outside the dock labour scheme, and that pay rates of registered dock workers in scheme ports are also determined locally. The union, therefore, recognises that local negotiations are an appropriate response to the widely differing requirements of our ports.
The Government therefore hope that the union will lift its veto on similar local negotiations on conditions of employment for the minority of port workers who are registered dock workers.

§ Mr. Couchman
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to discuss dock labour schemes with the Employment Ministers of the European Community; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Nicholls
I have no such plans.
It is for member states to decide their own framework for employment in ports in accordance with national needs and Community policies to minimise distortions to competition.