asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether he is aware that the railway companies have indicated that they do not intend to permit their employees a whole holiday on Whit Monday, or to allow a whole holiday in lieu thereof; whether he is aware that the employees concerned have intimated their determination to stop work on Whit Monday on the ground that the companies are attempting to use the Holidays (Employees) Act, 1939, to worsen their industrial conditions, and if he will state what steps he is taking to ensure that the enforcement of this Act will not be utilised to prejudice the position of railway workers in regard to employment on public holidays.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Holidays for Railway Workers.
Certain railway trade unions have represented to me that the railway companies do not propose to grant a whole holiday on Whit Monday to their employees or to allow a whole holiday in lieu thereof. I have, however, no further information on the subject.
With regard to the rest of the question, the Act lays down the statutory rights of workers to holidays with pay. So far as railway workers are concerned, any proposal for better holiday facilities is a matter for negotiation between them and the railway companies, and there is nothing in the Act which would prevent such a proposal, if agreed, from being put into operation. I am not aware whether any, and if so what, proposals have, in fact, been made to the railway companies.
Arising out of the Minister's reply, is he not aware that certain sections of those employees are entitled at present to two whole holidays, and a considerable number of them to six holidays, upon which, if called upon to work, they are entitled to double time; and does he not consider that that is bringing the Act into conflict with the agreement in the circumstances to which I have referred?
I think that my reply made it clear that the question of conditions of service is a matter for determination, by negotiation, between the companies concerned and the trades unions representative of the workers. In fact, the law provides that the rate of pay and other conditions of service with regard to railway workers and road transport workers must be settled by negotiation between the companies on the one hand and the trades unions, representative of the workers, on the other hand. Any agreement made, of course, must be subject to the limitation that it cannot provide for conditions of service worse than those provided for in the Act of 1939, but there is nothing to prevent arrangements that would be better from the point of view of the workers than those prescribed by that Act being brought into force.