Report in which the committee requests to be kept informed of development - Report No 87, 1966

Case No 292 (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) - Complaint date: 12-MAR-62 - Closed

1. 122. The Committee has already submitted interim reports on this case to the Governing Body in paragraphs 136 to 243 of its 67th Report and in paragraphs 222 to 271 of its 76th Report.

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 123. Paragraph 271 of the Committee's 76th Report, which was approved by the Governing Body at its 159th Session (June-July 1964), reads as follows:
   • In these circumstances, the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
     • (a) to take note that the inquiry arranged by the Government of the United Kingdom on the proposal of the Governing Body and entrusted to a Judge of the Court of Session (the Hon. Lord Cameron, D.S.C, Q.C.) has now been completed and that Lord Cameron's report on his inquiry has been presented to Parliament by the Minister of Labour, published and communicated to the International Labour Organisation;
     • (b) to note that the scope of the inquiry corresponds with that of the complaint which the Governing Body recommended the Government to submit to such an inquiry;
     • (c) to take note of Lord Cameron's rejection of the contention that Article 2 of the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), cannot be construed as applying to individual employers who are not members of employers' organisations;
     • (d) to note that, in accordance with the hope expressed by the Committee in paragraphs 241 and 242 of its 67th Report, the report of Lord Cameron contains a number of suggestions for both immediate and subsequent action which might lead to a permanent improvement of industrial relations in the banking industry, and to note further the Government's statement that officers of the Ministry of Labour are getting in touch with the organisations concerned to offer their help in following up those suggestions;
     • (e) to invite the Government to consider possible means of encouraging appropriate arrangements for determining the representative character of workers' organisations where necessary;
     • (f) to request the Government to inform the Governing Body as to further developments when the circumstances so allow.
   • 124. The conclusions cited above were brought to the notice of the Government of the United Kingdom by a letter dated 18 June 1964.
2. 125. In a letter dated 4 January 1966 the Government states that a working party comprising representatives of the majority of the London clearing banks, the Central Council of Bank Staff Associations and the National Union of Bank Employees was set up in July 1965 to consider the practicability of setting up national negotiating machinery for bank employees. The Government declares that the working party has made progress in its discussions, that the Ministry of Labour is keeping in touch with developments and that further information will be furnished as soon as it becomes available.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 126. In these circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to take note of the Government's statement that a joint working party has been established for the purpose of considering the practicability of setting up national negotiating machinery for bank employees and that it has made progress in its discussions;
   • (b) to thank the Government for this information and to request it to be good enough to continue to keep the Governing Body informed of further developments in the matter.