The container 'revolution'
Page 19
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by a special correspondent
• With the committal last Friday to Pentonville jail of the five London docks men who were held to be in contempt of the National Industrial Relations Court, widespread protests broke out among workers and by mid-week work had stopped at most docks, and ports and at many mines, airfields, motorworks, newspaper printing works, markets and municipal departments.
First rumblings of the pending industrial earthquake were beard over a year ago when arguments arose at docks, notably Southampton, between lorry drivers and dockers. The question then was simply: "Who should handle the loading and unloading of goods?"
The scene shifted to Liverpool from whence the general public first heard of "stuffing" and "stripping" — dockland terms for the container loading and unloading. The warehousing and road transport concern Heatons Transport was largely involved in this dispute, which again revolved around the dockers' claim that, irrespective of where containers came from or went to. loading and unloading was traditionally their work. The prospect of losing that work to inland depots is basically what the trouble has been about.
The disaffection spread to Hull where, among others, the Panalpina concerns became involved; then to the inland clearance depot at Chobham Farm in East London. Dockers' picket lines resisted endeavours of drivers, mostly TGWU members like themselves, from blacked firms to enter dock premises. But last week at Tilbury docks notices were posted blacking drivers who were members of the United Road Transport Union and it appeared at one time that TGWU drivers and dockers were uniting against drivers of the smaller union.
Matters came swiftly to a head last Friday when Sir John Donaldson, president of the NIRC, sentenced to jail the dockers' leaders, headed by Mr Vic Turner and Mr Bernie Steer, who had been prominent in the legal proceedings that arose out of the London-based Midland Cold Storage company's actions in the NIRC and the High Court — actions aimed to restrain picketing of the MCS's premises.
No sooner had the jail sentences been pronounced than .many thousands of dockers, subsequently supported by workers in other industries, walked out.
The TUC's Mr Vic Feather, after meeting the Prime Minister on Monday, announced that the tripartite talks on inflation which had been arranged between the Government, the CBI and the TUC, would be -deferred" so long as the five jailed men remained in prison. Mr Maurice Macmillan, the Employment Minister, said that the Government could not ignore the court's ruling.
Also on Monday the Jones-Aldington report was produced. This document came from a committee headed by Lord Aldington, for the Government, and the TGWU's Mr Jack Jones, and was intended to be the basis for discussion to be held this week on terms for a settlement of the problems in the docks and it was hoped that it would avert an official dock strike which the union had threatened to call today.
Essential recommendations of the report are that: 1, The Temporary Unattached Register (TUR) of dock workers be discontinued.
2. Voluntary severance pay for unfit men and men over 55 years of age to go up from £2330 to £4000 maximum, the Government footing the bill for the next five months.
3, Dockers to be given a bigger opportunity to become involved in container work.
The Government, the PLA and port employers, the TGWU at official level and, for the first time, two lay TGWU members, have all accepted this report.
Meanwhile, the case brought by Heatons Transport and others to determine the "accountability" of shop stewards to their unions had passed from the High Court to the House of Lords. Last week five law Lords considered the case and reserved judgment. On Wednesday they gave judgment as reported on page 15.