2.
and plenty of other body of law on the subject of obstruction and may be this particular clause is unnecessary. We can certainly have another look at it and see if there is any need to modify it as perhaps there may be.
Another point has been raised;
the
picketing of private residences; and I stress here that this is the picketing of purely private residences. This, I think, has been misunderstood. There is nothing in the draft bill which makes
it an offence to picket premises which are both a workplace and a private residence. It is only in the case of a purely private residence, and this, incidentally, is a change in the law that is being considered also in the United Kingdom. I would like to point out that this relates to both the residences of employers and employees. That is to say, it makes it an offence to picket the house of somebody who does not want to strike; just as much as it makes it an offence to picket the house of an employer. I think that this is a perfectly reasonable provision; a man's wife and family and so on, live in a private residence and it does not seem to be right that a private residence like that should be picketed. But the main point to stress here is that if it is also a work place, then it is not an offence to picket it.
Another point which is being criticized, certainly commented on by both labour and management alike, is the provision in the ordinance for the formation of temporary trade unions. Now, in this case, we thought we were being helpful to put in a provision for a temporary trade union. But it is certainly not a clause in the draft bill that we would want to go to the wall over. If there is real objection to this clause we can certainly reconsider it. But it was a clause which we put in, thinking it would be helpful, in the early days of the formation of the unions, to have it on a temporary basis if it got started. But if it is objected to, certainly I am sure the Commissioner of Labour will reconsider it.
The last point is the disbarment for 5 years of union officials or disbarment from the power to hold