House of Lords' decision used for first time

UNION LEADERS were warned by the National Industrial Relations Court yesterday that once it has ruled industrial action must stop, it is their responsibility to see that it does.

The clear implication of this warning— issued during the NIRC's first judgement on the subject since the key House of Lords decision in July-is that the unions could increasingly face actions for contempt of the court if they fail to discipline their members.

NIRC president Sir John Donaldson ordered the Transport and General Workers' Union yesterday to stop the blacking of lorries from a Merseyside transport firm at Liverpool docks.

The court held that on the face of it the T&GWU was accountable for the blacking. (The Law Lords fixed responsibility for shop stewards' actions on their unions.)

Negotiations are continuing between the union and the firm, Howitt Transport Ltd. Donaldson asked to be kept informed of developments.

But Donaldson ruled unequivocally: 'I need hardly emphasize that the industrial action must cease' Howitt Transport is a whollyowned subsidiary of Howitt Bros Ltd, itself wholly owned by Mr and Mrs Howitt.

Their lorries were blacked in the docks following the dismissal of two men, one of whom was shop steward at their Bootle depot. The Howitts claim the steward's dismissal had nothing to do with his union work. The court was told in evidence that the man himself, James Jones, says he was dismissed for supporting the dockers in their strike.

Satisfied

Giving judgement on behalf of himself and lay i judges John Arkell and Herman Roberts, the NIRC president said that while findings were provisional they were satisfied that Jones 'played a leading part in inducing the blacking'.

The court was satisfied that a similar role was played by three anonymous stewards of the T&GWU docks section and by Wally Nugent, chairman of the union's Merseyside road haulage branch.

In the case of Harold Verrinder, full-time Liverpool area official of the T&GWU commercial services section, Donaldson said that 'at present we have no Dangers in CIR recognition of TASS THE COMMISSION on Industrial Relations has recognized the right of TASS (the technical and supervisory section of the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers) to remain the sole bargaining agent for 1,430 technical staff employed by C. A. Parsons and four associated companies.

The associated companies are: Sir Howard Grubb Parsons and Company Ltd, Reyrolle Parsons Automation, Electronic Materials Ltd and International Research and Development Company Ltd.

Although the CIR report, issued yesterday, appears to restore the position of TASS at Parsons, in fact it is a step towards state control of management-union relations.

It is also an attempt to pressurize unions into registering under the Industrial Relations Act, since TASS is unable to seek enforcement of its recognition on Parsons while it remains unregistered.

The report did not solve the problem of bargaining rights affecting 264 assistant managers and managers because they were 'not sufficiently union-minded.

TASS is an unregistered union and refused to co-operate with the Commission.

In November 1968 Parsons T&GWU ordered to stop Mersey lorry black' T&GWU's legal doubt at all that Mr Verrinder took a part and probably a leading part in instigating and maintaining the blacking.' T&GWU legal officer Alfred Blyghton had argued 'both forcefully and fairly' that the union was not accountable for the actions of any of these men. He had said that no full-time union official and still less any shop steward had authority to act on his own initiative in instituting any sort of industrial action.

(Earlier in his judgement, resisted granting sole negotiating rights to TASS (formerly DATA) on the grounds that it would place the company in breach of national procedure agreements between the Engineering Employers' Federation and other staff unions.

Following industrial action by DATA members at the Tyneside plant, however, the company issued a statement recommending that technical staff should be members of their appropriate trade union and stating that they intended to negotiate only with DATA on behalf of the office technical staff.

When the Association Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs (ASTMS) complained to the EEF, Parsons recognized ASTMS and waived its agreement with DATA.

In December, 1970, DATA imposed an intensive work-torule in support of a pay claim, 100 per cent trade unionism and sole negotiating rights. This was followed by a 'progressive strike' beginning with 50 members and rising to 192.

In May DATA won a closedshop agreement for all technical staff below the level of assistant manager.

Parsons were subsequently forced to give notice to 36 employees who refused to join DATA. In November a Mr J. W. Donaldson had pointed out that Blyghton had made no attempt to persuade the court that it was an unfair industrial practice under Section 96 of the Industrial Relations Act for anyone to induce dockers to black Howitt Transport because of the dispute with the dismissed men.)

In what is likely in the long term to be the most significant section of the court's judgement, Donaldson defined three categories of industrial action in the T&GWU:

OWN CORRESPONDENT Hill won a legal case against his dismissal in the Court of Parsons later issued dismissal notices again to employees who refused to join DATA, but withdrew these when the Industrial Relations Act came into effect on February 28 this year, and placed the whole matter in the hands of the CIk.

In the early days of the Commission's inquiries, TASS members restricted working to four days a week and imposed output restrictions against redundancy proposals.

There was also some blacking by TASS members of work done by members of the United Kingdom Association • of Professional Engineers (UKAPE)— a registered body.

On April 18 and 19, 400 TASS members were dismissed by Parsons for continuing to take industrial action. The total number sacked later rose to 800.

Subsequently, UKAPE, together with Dr Newell, secretary of the UKAPE committee at parsons, made application to the Industrial Court under Section 54 (4) (b) of the Industrial Relations Act for an interim order against TASS.

An order was issued against TASS for taking irregular industrial action short of a strike in furtherance of a dispute Official union action, approved by the national executive or a section delegate conference: • Unofficial union action, taken without authorization but by a group of workers acting as union members; and • Unauthorized non-union action taken by union members acting as individuals.

Both the first two categories were 'union activities, carried on with the authority of the union derived from the bottom and, in the case of official action, confirmed from the top', Donaldson insisted.

Determine

In trying to determine whether a particular action was unofficial union action or unofficial non-union action, he said, the court had up to the present looked for promotion or support by officials or shop stewards acting as such.

But in future, evidence of supporting action by groups of union members not directly involved might well lead the court to conclude that though unofficial, the action was union action rather than non-union action.

The NIRC president warned that once an order to stop a particular action had been made, it is for the union to procure that the action ceases or U7 -equivocally to dissociate itself from the continuing action so that all the union's members know that the action is an unauthorized activity unconnected with and unsupported by the union'.

POLICE pay talks must be postponed until the employers-the Home Office and the local authorities-see the outcome of the talks between • the government, the TUC and the CBI, the Police Federation was told yesterday. relating to a question which had been referred to the Commission.

Normal working was resumed on May 17 after an agreement had been reached between the company and TASS on redundancies and the reinstatement of the dismissed TASS members.

Yesterday's CIR decision, although granting sole rights 1o TASS, cannot be enforced at Parsons since TASS is not a registered union under the Industrial Relations Act. I would like information about Fill in the form below and send to NATIONAL SECRETARY, SOCIALIST SOCIALIST LABOUR LEAGUE, 186A CLAPHAM HIGH ST, LONDON, SW4 7UG. Name Address names in corridors of power HE TORY government is stepping up its corporatist policies by introducing more big businessmen into the corridors of power at Whitehall.

Prospace Minister Michael Heseltine has announced that three senior executives are to join requirement boards which will be in charge of placing contracts and overseeing prices and deliveries. The appointments are:

Mr Nigel Broackes (38), founder of the property and share speculation group, Trafalgar House Investments Limited. He succeeded the late Lord Crowther, editor of the Tory • magazine 'The Economist', ', as chairman three years ago.

me of its subsidiaries include Cunard Steamship Company, Offshore Marine, a specialist in servicing_offshore oil-rigs, New Ideal Homes, Cementation and Trollope and Colls.

Broackes will be chairman of the ship and marine technology requirements board.

• Mr John Atwell (60), chairIllah of Weir Engineering Industries Limited and Weir Pumps Limited and the Weir Group. He is a member of the court of Strathclyde University, Glasgow, and sits on a committee of the National Economic Development Council. He will be chairman of mechanical engineering and machine tools board.

• Mr John Crane (49), a director of. Imperial Metal Industries, chairman of IMI (Kynoch) Limited in Birmingham, and viçe-president of the British Non-Ferrous Metals Federation. He will become chairman of the engineering materials requirements board. As ¡ a sop to the civil service, the Tories have given the two remaining posts to undersecretaries at the Department of Trade and Industry.

• Mr John Nichols will become chairman of the computers, systems and electronics board.

• Mr Donald Clark becomes chairman of the chemical and mineral processes and plant board.

The notion of introducing a requirements board was made by Lord Victor Rothschild in his first report to Edward Heath after he became the Tory leader's scientific adviser.

›thschild's 'think-tank' suggested that six boards be created to ensure closer and more efficient co-operation between private contractors and government departments.