63.
asked the Minister of Munitions whether he is aware that Messrs. Workman and Clark, shipbuilders, of Belfast, a controlled establishment, have drawn up an agreement for the clerks engaged in their counting house and their timekeepers, stipulating as a condition of employment that these employés shall not be connected with in any way any organisation of a trade union character; and whether, in view of the provisions of the Munitions of War Act, he will say what action he proposes to take?
My right hon. Friend has asked me to reply to this question. I am afraid the answer is rather long. I understand that the firm in question have not drawn up any such agreement for their clerks in the counting-house, but have drawn up one for their timekeepers.
The provisions of the Munitions of War Acts, to which my hon. Friend refers, are apparently Section 4 (3) of the Act of 1915, Section 12 of the Act of 1916, and Section 9 of the Act of 1917. The effect of these enactments, so far as they bear, if at all, on the point now raised, appears shortly to be this: