from a special correspondent
At its conference on July 25th the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions condemned the action of the House of Lords in amending the Trades Disputes Bill. The conference unanimously passed a resolution deploring the action of the Lords in amending the Bill in such a way "as to thwart the will of the House of Commons and defeat the intention of the Bill." The Lords amendment was "designed to weaken trade union rights," said the resolution which called on the House of Lords to withdraw from the position it had taken.
Mr. Jim Mortimer, general secretary of D.A.T.A., said the right to strike or threaten to strike in the cause of a trade dispute was not a privilege but a social right and that the amendment in the Lords had not been put by an obscure member but by Lord Dilhorne, a former Lord Chancellor. "This is a premeditated attack by the Conservative leadership upon trade union rights," said Mr. Mortimer. "The effect of this amendment is that protection will not be given to trade unionists if the threat of strike action is to secure the termination of employment of another person." He added that the Labour Party had gone to the country with a clearly stated intention to restore the protection which unions thought they had under the 1906 Act until the Rookes v. Barnard decision. This intention was clearly stated in the mandate of the Government and had been adopted by the House of Commons.
There was a strong feeling among delegates that it was about time the Labour Party took an uneguivocal position on the House of Lords. While ever it existed it remains a threat to the trade union movement and a reserve weapon of the Tory party. It should be abolished forthwith!