Breakaway RHA men get 'closed shopiat Hull docks
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by Tony O'Toole
AN RHA sub-committee in Hull has become a breakaway splinter group and by its action turned Hull docks into a "closed shop".
This is claimed by the Hull RHA secretary, Mr L. W. Hazel, who says he may be compelled to seek intervention in the matter from the Association's London hq.
Mr Hazel told CM that the Hull Assenting Hauliers' Association — which he says was originally called the Assenting Hauliers' Group — has negotiated an agreement with the TGWU which allows only members of the AHA to use the docks on certain types of work.
The agreement is that only vehicles carrying a special identification badge will be recognized by the dock labour force on certain jobs, such as ship to vehicle loadings.
This situation stems from the time in September last year (CM, September 13) when Hull dockers announced they would refuse to load, unload or be involved with any heavy goods vehicle that did not cearly bear its operator's name.
The main reason for this goes back several years to the Hull Neap House Wharf dispute when dockers blacked several companies "for life" because their drivers had broken through picket lines.
They wanted to ensure that these blacked company vehicles could be identified easily and stopped from entering the docks.
However, Mr Hazel pointed out that under the agreement only members of the AHA would be issued with the identification badges. and that of the 400 RHA members in the Hull area only around 180 belonged to the AHA.
He said that under the agreement only RHA members could join the AHA, which had initially been inaugurated as a wage negotiation body.
One of the more sinister implations, suggested Mr Hazel, was the effect the agreement could have on many hauliers from other areas who used Hull docks and yet were not even eligible to join the Hull AHA.
He added that he would like to see thousands of the identification badges distributed throughout Britain.
Spare badges
Commenting on the situation, Mr Kenneth Wake, chairman of the Hull AHA, said that it had taken 12 months to negotiate the agreement. "We are not aware," . he said, "of any criticism against the Assenting Hauliers."
Mr Wake explained tha there would be a "spare margin" of badges and tha each member of the AHI would receive a 25 per cer surplus which could be use on any vehicle sub contracted for dock work.
Hull TGWU official M Jack Ashwell told CM thk. when the badge system wz brought into force o Monday, no vehicles wei turned away from Hu Docks at all.
"We don't anticipate ar problems," he said.
Mr Ashwell said that ti TGWU preferred t negotiate with the Assen ing Hauliers' Associatic rather than with the RH directly. One of the reaso: for this was that the RH was a "tight-knit" organiz tion and any negotiatio between it and the unic tended to become cot plicated and protracted.