Orders of the Day — Redeployment

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 24 October 1966.

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Photo of Mr Don Concannon Mr Don Concannon , Mansfield 12:00, 24 October 1966

Anticipating this debate today I thought that mostly hon. Members would be talking about the constituencies which would be affected by redeployment. I hope to show, possibly, the other side of the coin. I myself am not long out of industry. In fact, three weeks before the General Election I was on the shop floor, though most of my time I spent nearly half a mile under the shop floor.

My constituency itself is not affected by redeployment. Indeed, my constituents are more worried about the reabsorption of labour. We hope—my local labour exchange is hoping—to benefit somewhat from this redeployment, because it is obvious that if there is redeployment from some places there must be a receiver for the redeployed somewhere along the line.

The best way, I think, in which one can explain this is to read a few figures which I have received from my own local employment exchange. During the four weeks ended 13th June there were 1,262 vacancies at my local employment exchange. Of these, 899 were in the basic industry of coal mining. For the four weeks ended 6th July, there were 1,354 vacancies, 962 of which were in the coal industry. For the four weeks ended 3rd August, there were 1,269 vacancies, 924 of which were in the coal industry. For the five weeks ended 7th September, there were 1,427 vacancies, and over 1,052 were in the coal industry.

The latest figures which I have, to 5th October, show that there were 1,247 vacancies, 941 of which were in the coal industry. Those figures are for the Mansfield Employment Exchange, which only covers a very small portion of the East Midlands coalfield, and if I were to say that the East Midlands coalfield has vacancies for over 3,000 men I would not be exaggerating.

The profits from that coalfield last year were £13,785,000, or, after interest, a matter of £9·4 million. It was the only division of the Coal Board to show a working profit. Before any of my hon. Friends get on to me about that, I ought to make it clear that I am not claiming that the miners in that area are better than they are anywhere else in the country, because anyone who knows the mining industry knows that it is the geological conditions which control productivity to a great extent.

My own area of Edwinstone made a profit of 16s. 7d. a ton in 1965–66. They mined a total of 10,466,000 tons, making a profit of £8,663,000. All that was done with a relative shortage of labour, and I am assured by all at area and divisional level that, if we had been fully manned, the profit would have been far greater than that shown in the Report.

Redeployment is not new in the coal industry. In 1948, we employed 718,800, and by the end of March, 1966, there were 436,200 employed. Last year, under the new terms, 41,043 men were shaken out of the industry. I am not sure whether I am included in that figure or whether I shall appear in next year's. The point is that a big shake-out has been taking place in the coal industry for a considerable time. In fact, some of our members have been shaken out so much that it is a wonder they are not suffering from shell-shock.

The policy of the N.C.B. is to redeploy from the unprofitable areas and short-life pits to the more profitable parts of the country, which means the East Midlands and Yorkshire. We instigated what was known as a transfer scheme as long ago as April, 1962. Today, it would be called a redeployment scheme. By March, 1966, over 7,000 men had used the scheme, but it must be remembered that when men are redeployed, one has to redeploy their families as well.

During 1965–66, 36,000 men in the industry were redeployed between collieries, and 2,000 were transferred between divisions, from the northern coalfields to the East Midlands or Yorkshire fields. Last year, 55 mines closed or merged, and a total of 21,000 miners were affected. However, by the end of March this year, there were 1,100 still unemployed. By 1970, it is estimated that redeployment in the coal industry will have reached a total figure of 120,000.

We have fought a continuing battle for five or six years between manpower and production in the East Midlands. As we have lost manpower, we have tried to keep up the rate of production. To do that, we have had to automate and mechanise to a great extent, and I should say that this is where good management relations have played a vital part. To cite only one case, in one district of a mine we were running short of labour and had to decide to automate or mechanise. In consultation with two union officials, the manager got broad agreement that we should automate. To the man's credit he turned to the union officials and said, "Right. Get on with it and phase it how you want to." I wish there were more management representatives like that round the country.

We have heard mention today of Bevercotes. That is a prototype colliery which is running on a skeleton staff at the moment for development purposes. It is a wholly automated mine, but, as I have already explained, with collieries in its immediate vicinity already short of labour, when Bevercotes is at last ready to start coal production there will be a manpower shortage. We have to have redeployment before Bevercotes can start. The way in which the N.U.M. and the N.C.B. are facing the problem is one which I recommend not only to the rest of industry and the unions, but to the Government, although the Government have played a great part in it.

I concede at once that there is no necessity for training in the industry. Even so, the industry has its own training schools and training regulations and does its own training.

It is laid down in the N.C.B./N.U.M. agreement that redeployment in the coal industry must begin before the old job disappears. That is a basic priority of the agreement. We have teams of industrial relations officers visiting divisions from the receiving divisions, which are those of the East Midlands and Yorkshire. They go round answering questions and interviewing men, discussing such matters as housing, jobs, pay, working conditions, schools, social needs and social activities in the areas where they are hoping to redeploy men.

When the debate was opened today, there was great play on housing, obviously. One of the first considerations in any redeployment scheme is the housing situation. Since 1952, the Coal Industry Housing Association—because we have our own housing association to deal with the problem—has built 24,000 houses. Last year, the association completed 1,029 houses, with another 700 under construction. In addition, local authorities build for the National Coal Board under contract, and last year they completed 987 houses, and there were another 13,000 at various stages of construction or under negotiation. In my own area, the Coal Industry Housing Association is now a larger housing authority than Mansfield Borough Council.

In my constituency, new houses have been standing empty for a considerable time waiting for men to be redeployed or for anyone to take advantage of the scheme. When men are redeployed from older areas in Scotland, the Northern counties and Wales—we have a few redeployed from Wales, and I am sorry if it happens that way—it is obvious that the rents which they have been paying for older houses are considerably lower than those in the East Midlands. In its wisdom, the Coal Board pays a differential in respect of rents over the first year, and that is gradually phased out over the next three years.

In addition, all removal expenses are paid from as far away as Scotland or Wales to the East Midlands, plus a grant of £100 to cover the essential fittings of a new house, such as lino and curtains. If there is no house available, the miner is asked to take lodgings in the community. He has a free lodging allowance, plus a settling-in allowance, and his fare home once a month until a house is completed. Any other liabilities such as rent, storage of furniture, and so on, are taken into account.

Possibly the only drawback of this redeployment scheme is the wages. Often it is not possible for a man to command a job which is as highly paid as the one he has left in his own coalfield when he comes to the East Midlands. In that respect, the Coal Board and the N.U.M. have a protected earnings agreement under which, for a maximum period of two years, depending on length of service, his wages are protected to a certain extent.

There are also further aids to redeployment. Under the latest scheme, an industrial relations officer visits families in those areas. He invites them to come down to the new areas to look at the houses, at the location, at the jobs, at the schools for the children, and at the social amenities before committing themselves to removal, and all this at the Board's expense.

Since 1962, 7,000 families have moved into Yorkshire or the Midlands at the rate of more than 100 a month, and having checked this at the weekend, I find that the rate has accelerated.

By 1970 the programme will have cost the Board £80 million. The Coal Industry Act of 1965 provides for a Government contribution of £30 million to the Coal Board on a £ for £ basis. Thus, as this will cost more than £30 million, the Board will have to find £50 million.

This is a good example of how to redeploy or shake-out. I do not claim that this system is perfect, because it has its own built-in defects, but I think that it provides the rest of the country, industry, and unions, with a lesson in industrial, and, what to me is more important, human, relations.

Some of our basic industries have been shaken out before. One has only to mention the railways, the mines, and the cotton industry. What I object to is the atti-ture of some employers towards some of their employees. They seem to think of them as pawns in a gigantic chess-game. The time is ripe for a change of attitude.

From my experience, which is relatively short, I know that managements and unions have an in-built defensive mechanism. I think that this is because over the years they have always been on the defensive. They are too busy watching each other to think about anything else. There should be a movement towards the centre between the two. In the best of relationships there is bound to be a point of conflict. We should aim to make this point of conflict as small as possible.

My attitude towards redeployment is that it is a matter for settlement between managements and unions. If the firms or managements are willing to tackle this problem in the way the N.C.B. and N.U.M. have done, they should be allowed to do so. The Board and the N.U.M. have shown that it can be done, but this is the only redundancy scheme that I have seen in operation.

In this day and age, with our experience, redeployment should be as painless as possible. It should be properly planned, and there should be proper agreement for the protection of all, including the employees. It is surely not beyond the big firms to have some forward planning of their employment needs. Redeployment should be gradual, with no one losing his job until another one is offered. Firms should be responsible for these men until they are found other jobs. I know that this will not solve the immediate problem, but if we had had a system like this about five years ago, we would not have the problems which are facing us now. Unions and managements should work together for this type of agreement.

I am not suggesting that this type of agreement is the answer to today's problem. All I am suggesting to managements, to unions, and to the Government, is that this is the type of thinking, and type of planning, which should be taking place by people on both sides to deal with this human problem of redeployment.