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Two Unions Declaring Disputes with Bus Companies
Page 50
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A SERIES of trade disputes with bus companies throughout the country 1-1 is to be declared by unions representing the administrative, professional, technical and clerical staffs. Mr. John Lancaster, national organizing officer for transport staffs of the National and Local Government Officers' Association, made this announcement in Brighton on Monday at a meeting of delegates of road passenger transport branches.
He said that for the past three years Nalgo and the Transport and General Workers Union, acting jointly, had been trying to persuade the transport companies to establish joint negotiating machinery for their non -manual employees. The two unions had been to the boards of the Tilling Association and the British Electric Traction Federation, but they had refused even to discuss national negotiating machinery. The British Transport Commission had said that they had no responsibility in the matter and, although the Ministry of Labour had tried to bring the two sides together, they had had no success.
Model Agreement Rejected
" Since the employers have refused to negotiate with us nationally we have adopted a ` model agreement' based on the salaries and service conditions in similar employments, like British Railways and British Road Services," said Mr. Lancaster. "We have asked every company, save two in which we have few members, to adopt that agreement. So far all have refused. So now we are going to declare trade disputes with everyone in turn. "The first dispute will be declared by Nalgo against the Rhondda Transport Co., Ltd., Port h—a B.E.T. undertaking. The second will be declared by the • TranSport and General Workers' Union against the Bristol Tramways and Carriage Co., Ltd.—a Tilling undertaking. The third will be declared by the two unions jointly against the Crosville Motor Services, Ltd., Chester. "Disputes will be declared against all the other companies in turn and at frequent intervals."
Inconsistent Attitude
He did not know why the employers had adopted that "extraordinary attitude." It was inconsistent not only with the practice of every other major industry, but with the companies' own practice for their manual workers, for whom they had national negotiating machinery. "The Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company has an unrivalled reputation for efficiency. How has it behaved? Some time ago we asked it to adopt a salary structure in keeping with that high efficiency. It refused and we took it to arbitration. The chairman of the tribunal told the company and Nalgo to negotiate an agreement, but despite many efforts by Nalgo, it was only when we,threatened to go back to the tribunal that the
n16
general manager and his establishment officer came to London to negotiate with us. "We agreed on a scale for routine clerks—a pitiable agreement—but one weaccepted, thinking that, having got the company to negotiate, we would be able to improve and extend it. Yet a few weeks later the general manager denied having negotiated with Nalgo." [Mr. D. M. Sinclair, general manager
of B.M.M.O., later said that Mr. Lancaster had distorted the facts. The company had carried out their
obligations under the arbitration of
1951. There had been no approach
by Nalgo since March, 1954.]