"Guillebaud" Inquiry Into Bus Pay Scales Proposed: Fresh Situation
Page 56
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
THE long-awaited Guilleb-aud report on the railways will undoubtedly have a profound effect on the wages structure within the bus industry. With the three recent pay claims by London, provincial and municipal bus workers still not concluded, there have already been calls for a "Guillebaud-type inquiry" into busmen's wages.
When talks on the rejection of the pay claim of London busmen by the London Transport Executive were resumed on Monday, an L.T.E. official suggested an inquiry of the kind made into railway wages.
This was countered by a suggestion by union leaders, who proposed that the London claim should be heard by an independent body.
A fresh situation had arisen since the LT.E. had rejected the men's claim for a £1-a-weelt rise, said union officials. They argued that if the Guillehaud Proposals for railway pay were passed in full to Underground workers, the motorman would be receiving about £3 per week more than the bus driver, whereas in 1939 wages were equal.
In the meantime, delegates of London busmen stood firm on their earlier decision to impose an overtime and restday work ban until their claim is met.
Early in the week, seven more Central London bus garages decided to join the 37 which had already voted to impose the overtime ban. Country and Green Line workers were not expected to impose similar conditions.
The effect of the restricted working will be to cut about one bus in eight from the schedules of the affected garages.
The ban is not recognized officially by the Transport and General Workers' Union, and Mr. Arthur Townsend, national passenger secretary, commented: "All I know about an overtime ban is what I have read in the papers.