London Transport Faces Another Overtime Ban
Page 26
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
ONDON TRANSPORT, which has 1.4 been free of the threat of industrial trouble for a few months, may become involved in a new dispute with its busmen next week. Unless agreement can be reached by next Tuesday (August 10) a ban on much of the overtime being worked at present could disrupt its services.
Fundamentally the dispute is over the closed shop principle, which London Transport accepted under the 100 per cent union membership agreement in 1946. The present case concerns a husband-andwife bus crew from Loughton garage, Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Scott, who were alleged by the Transport and General Workers' Union to have worked during what should have been a rest period. They were fined 50s. each and when they refused to pay this became lapsed members.
The union then asked London Transport to act under the agreement and dismiss the Scotts. But the Board claimed that no rule had been broken, because the minimum 10-hour period between duties did not apply where there was, as in this case, a mutual change of duties.
There the matter rested until last week when a delegate conference of the men decided as a reprisal to enforce the main agreement which provides for a 12-hour
rest period between duties. They also gave notice to end the present agreement governing overtime.
A statement issued by the Board on Wednesday simply said: "The Scott case and the bus overtime ban were discussed between Mr. Larry Smith of the TGWU and Mr. J. McCoy, assistant operating manager, central buses, yesterday, and there will be a further meeting."
SINGLE-DECK ATLANTEANS
FOR GREAT YARMOUTH 'THREE 39-seat single-decker buses, to L be fitted with coachwork by Marshall of Cambridge (Engineering) Ltd., have been ordered by Great Yarmouth Corporation Transport.
Basis of the new buses is to be the Leyland Atlantean rear-engined, doubledecker bus chassis and the vehicles will have an overall length of 30 ft. 6 in. Marshall recently completed 24 similar bodies on Daimler Fleetline chassis for Birmingham.