Minister calms Dock work fears
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WORK within the five mile corridor around coasts and waterways will only become dock work under the Dock Work Regulation Bill if it would help operations, said employment secretary Mr Albert Booth last week.
Speaking at the annual lunch of the National Cold Storage Federation, he told members: "The words used here are whether classification of the work would assist the making or improvement of arrangements."
Mr Booth said that the Dock Labour Board would be required to make a judgement on whether or not the classification would help the operation and they would have to report their findings to the employment secretary.
"I am very conscious that it could be most undesirable to split an integrated labour force with the same terms and conditions by bringing some of them within the Dock Labour Scheme while other remain outside."
Mr Booth assured the cold store men that no work would be brought into the Dock Labour Scheme without a full investigation of the relevant circumstances.
He said that the Government had stressed there was no intention to make work never connected with the docks part of the scheme.
The Board will be 'basing their decisions on classification of work on several criteria. Before the investigation they must be satisfied that there is a prima facie case for making a recommendation.
They can decide that either work is done in substitution for work previously done by dock workers or that those doing the work need the same or similar training and experience as dockers, or that the work is being done by casual workers. will base its decision after establishing a prima facie case for classification are: whether the work needs a permanent labour force and whether it would help in making or improving arrangements.
They will consider whether it would help in creating and maintaining an adequate labour force; whether it would help in rationalising the deployment of tabour and whether classification would remove any anomalies that have been affecting the efficient performance of the work.