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N.J.C. 66
Page 461
ANNEX
MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND NATIONAL SERVICE
NATIONAL JOINT ADVISORY COUNCIL
Development of Joint Consultation
1. A Report (N.J.C. 44) was submitted to the Council in January of this year showing the progress which had been made in the setting up of joint consultative machinery in industry and making proposals for further assisting the establishment and development of such machinery. An Appendix to this paper gives an up-to-date account of the position reached in the most important industries at national level with regard to joint consultation. The following is an account of the additional steps which the Ministry has taken or is taking to stimulate and maintain an interest in this important subject.
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2. A further approach has been made to a number of Joint Industrial Councils, mainly those shown in sub-paragraph (d) of the Appendix, which had earlier taken the view that Joint Consultative Committees in the factory were unnecessary because the machinery of the Council was adequate to deal with matters requiring joint consultation. As a result of this approach three of the joint organisations agreed that officers of the Ministry should give information and advice on the establishment of joint consultative machinery to individual firms which desired to have it. One industry maintained its original attitude. Final replies from the remainder are awaited.
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3. At the meeting of the Council on 26th January, 1949, approval was given to a proposal that a supplement to the Industrial Relations Handbook should be published setting out the national agreements on joint consultation in various industries. The supplement, which has involved the collection of information from many sources, will be ready for printing shortly. Where industries have decided not to recommend any precise form of joint consultative machinery the supplement will contain an agreed statement setting out the views of the national joint organisation.
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4. Another proposal adopted by the Council in January was that an oppor- tunity should be given in the Regions for an interchange of views and experience between persons actually engaged in the day-to-day administration of joint consultative bodies. In accordance with this proposal Regional Industrial Relations Officers, assisted by Personnel Management Advisers, have organised conferences on Joint Consultative Machinery-How it Works." Firms known to have some form of works committee or other joint body have been invited to send as representatives one or two responsible officials who are concerned with its work. The response has been encouraging; in more than one place the number of firms interested was so large that it was found necessary to have two extra conferences.
Twenty-seven of these "Know-how" conferences have already been held in large industrial centres in the Northern, East and West Ridings, London and South-Eastern, Southern, South-Western, Wales, Midlands, North-Western (including 3 for cotton and other textiles) and Scotland Regions. Eleven more conferences have been arranged to take place before the end of November and others are being planned. Those held have undoubtedly been useful. The discus- sions, which have included such subjects as the scope and organisation of the committees, methods of preparing the agenda and of spreading information after the meetings, have, for the most part, been lively and constructive. Difficulties (and how to overcome them) have been frankly discussed as well as successes. At the end of some conferences requests have been made for further meetings; at others it has been agreed that firms with a written constitution for their joint consultative organisations would send copies to those attending the conference. In some cases invitations have been given by firms with 41ong experience of joint committees to other firms to attend meetings of their committees as visitors.
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5. Earlige the 9fa1097rangements were made with age 4eadquarters organisation of the Regional Boards for Industry for conferences to be held in the Regions jointly by the Economic Information Unit and this Ministry, under the ægis of the Regional Board, on the subjects of works information and joint consultation. The aim of the conferences is to stimulate interest in these subjects among firms which have little practical experience of joint consultation or of a fully developed works information service. A number of conferences have been held and it is the general opinion that they have had valuable results. The services of the Ministry's Personnel Management Advisers have been made available to firms which, as a result of the conferences, required more detailed information and advice.
6. Considerable progress has been made by socialised industries towards the establishment of machinery for joint consultation. The National Coal Board and the British Electricity Authority have reached agreement with their respective trade unions providing for joint consultative councils or committees at national, district and local levels. The British Transport Commission has set up a national joint consultative council on which the six executives and the trade unions are represented. In its own sphere the Railway Executive has recently put into effect a scheme for joint consultation with railways staff at national, regional and local levels. The London Transport Executive operates the joint consultative machinery created by the London Passenger Transport Board. The Civil Airways Corpora- tion have made provision for joint consultation through the National Joint Council for Civil Air Transport and Local Panel Committees; these arrangements are at present under review.
A detailed account of the consultative machinery established in the socialised industries will be included in the supplement to the Industrial Relations Handbook.
7. At the request of the Human Factors Panel of the Committee on Industrial Productivity, the National Institute of Industrial Psychology is carrying out a research into the working of joint consultation at factory level. The enquiry, which began in August 1948, includes detailed investigation into the practice of joint consultation at a number of factories, and is expected to take not less than two years.
8. Where there are national agreements on joint consultation the degree of implementation varies from industry to industry and from firm to firm within the same industry. In general, the amount of obstruction from employers is small, but there is a much larger degree of indifference both on the part of individual employers and of their workpeople. This springs partly from a misconception on both sides of the real purpose of joint consultation. To many employers it signifies at the most an opportunity for their workers to take an interest in such matters as welfare and staff canteens and to air their grievances. To many workers it is associated with a drive for increasing output in order to increase the profits of the firm. This indifference can only be overcome by a persistent campaign directed to make clear the primary purpose of joint consultation as a means of improving general relationships in the factory, and by a tabling of information and ideas to encourage mutual confidence and co-operation.
As far as individual firms are concerned, the conferences now being organised by this Department and those run under the aegis of Regional Boards are, it is considered, a most fruitful means of gaining on the employers' side a wider appreciation of joint consultation. Approval in principle by the employers' national and district associations is of course a prerequisite. On the workers' side experience suggests that in many industries more positive encouragement at national and district levels would do much to dissipate local hesitation and indifference. To this end education in the aims and methods of real joint consulta- tion is a primary necessity. There is evidence to show that where local instruction, e.g., in technical colleges, has been provided, sometimes as part of a wider course in industrial organisation and management, the response from workers' repre- sentatives has been encouraging and has shown that there is a genuine desire for unbiased information and advice. An extension of this form of education. would, it is considered, be one of the most effective means of creating real interest and enthusiasm on the workers' side.