1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148 
HIGHER WAGES WOULD BE FARES THREAT
Page 61
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
AFURTHER wages increase for company busmen, as recommended by the National Board for Prices and Incomes, would have "serious implications on the present level of fares". warned Mr. John Spencer Wills, chairman of BET Omnibus Services Ltd., last week.
Speaking at the company's annual meeting in London, he said the employers were astonished to learn that a further increase in basic wages of up to 31 per cent should have even been contemplated by the Board this year. Just over two months ago a 40-hour week for busmen had been introduced which was equivalent to a pay increase of something like 5 per cent. said Mr. Wills.
Since May of last year, labour costs in the bus industry had gone up by 14 per cent following a wages settlement and the introduction of a sick-pay scheme and a basic working week of 40 instead of 42 hours without loss of pay.
Referring to that part of the Board's report dealing with the more effective use of manpower, Mr. Wills said: "The employers have been preaching this policy for several years, but they have been much hampered by the unreasonable restrictive practices of the unions."
On fuel tax, Mr. Wills said it was a "crippling tax which keeps the industry's costs at an artificially high level". The inevitable consequence was that some companies had found it necessary to discontinue services they would otherwise have maintained—a move which acted harshly on the travelling public.
Attacking the payroll tax, the chairman said that in localities such as Birmingham and Oxford, where the bus industry suffered a serious loss of staff to neighbouring manufacturing industries, it was not practicable to compete successfully for local labour. He warned that it would be even more difficult to compete when manufacturers were able to deduct 7s. 6d. a man per week from their wages bill.