Snow-clearance Rates Controversy at Leeds
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CONTROVERSY has arisen again in Leeds concerning rates of payment by Leeds Corporation's cleansing department for the hire of lorries employed on snow-clearance work. Leeds and District Municipal Vehicle Operators, the association formed by operators doing municipal haulage, considered, at a meeting on October 5, a letter which the cleansing department recently circulated among vehicle owners, offering the following hourly rates of. hire for motor vehicles employed by the municipality for snow clearance:-2 tons and up to 3 tons carrying capacity inclusive, 5s. 6d.; -over 3 tons and up to 4 tons inclusive, 6s. 6d.; 'over 4 tons and up to 5 tons inclusive, 7s. 6d.
In a discussion on this offer it was pointed out that the suggested rates were the same as those which the cleansing department offered for snowclearance work last year, when they were rejected by the L.M.V.O. as a body, although some operators eventually accepted them individually. Since that time, it was stressed, there had been further increases in hauliers' costs; furthermore, still another rise in wages was in prospect.
Deciding against ale acceptance of. the rates offered, the meeting adopted a resolution which asserted that the cleansing department was " still insist• ing upon ignoring the principle of reasonable and fair rates " by offering such terms of remuneration that it would be difficult or impossible, for operators to comply with statutory regulations governing road haulage.
Mr. Harry Clark, chairman of L.M.V.O., stated that copies of the resolution would be sent to the Transport Commissioner for the NorthEastern Region, the Town Clerk of Leeds, and the Leeds Director of Cleansing.