Picket lorry law stuck
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by CM reporter ATTEMPTS by Mr Michael Foot, Secretary of State for Employment, to widen the powers of pickets—and in particular to allow them to stop lorries which attempt to cross picket lines—seem to have foundered for the present. Police opinion is firm that pickets should not be given this right. A spokesman at the Department of Employment this week told CM that moves to amend the picketing law before the Employment Protection Bill becomes law had foundered largely because of the lorry-stopping issue. "That is the big stumbling block," he said.
Union pressure has been exerted on the Government to allow pickets to stop lorries. This move began during the power crisis of two years ago when nonunion lorry drivers were effective in undermining the strength of official pickets.