COVENTRY RISK EXPULSION FROM NJIC
Page 48
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
ADECISION by Coventry transport committee last week to proceed with a new wages plan which would give bus crews an average of £1,000 a year might lead to the undertaking's expulsion from the National Joint Industrial Council. Coventry has once before been expelled from the NJIC for "unconstitutional" behaviour. If expelled again it would join the municipalities of Birmingham, Reading and Rochdale, who are all outside the council because of local agreements.
The Coventry proposals are linked with a plan to increase fares based on a zone system which would abolish fares based on mileage and complicated stages to make the operation of one-man buses easier. This plan would have to go before the Traffic Commissioners.
Basic wages under Coventry's new scheme would be £18 a week and a complex system of bonuses would be eliminated, overtime working be reduced and efficiency increased. The wages plan is due to come into effect on June 19 and will cost £220,000 a year.
Ald. Thomas Meffen, chairman of the transport committee, stated last week that the 1.000 drivers and conductors needed a more realistic wage. This was the only way of running an efficient service. The men would be able to earn £1,000 a year without working overtime—one of the main grumbles at present was that crews had to work excessive hours to earn a realistic wage.
It is understood that negotiations between the TGWU and the NJIC were to be resumed yesterday, June 9.