Troubles of the Group Organizer " Tweeny "
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nNE of the most thankless and onerous tasks in emergency road transport is that of the group organizer. He is presumed to be the link between the operator and the civil servants by whom the group is supervised. His task is looked upon as something in the nature of a contribution from the industry towards the more effective development of the grouping system, and one of his jobs is to collect and pass on for action the applications for supplementary supplies of fuel. This, in itself, is no sinecure, for he becomes the buffer, cushioning shocks from disgruntled operators.
Where the groups are of considerable size, his work may easily occupy the whole of his time ; yet it is purely a voluntary position. Representations concerning this matter have been made to the Ministry of Transport, and the organizer now receives an ex gratia payment of £2 per month, which is supposed to cover telephone charges and expenses connected with postage, etc. Hitherto, he was even expected to pay these out of his own pocket. • The main difficulty is that if he were to be placed upon a salaried basis by the State, he would become a civil servant, and as two of these, in the persons of the district transport officer and group manager, already exist, the group would then be entirely controlled by civil servants—a consummation devoutly not to be desired.
In some districts attempts have been made to ameliorate his position in a purely voluntary way by asking the operators concerned to pay small sums, ranging from is. to 4s. per vehicle per month. We must emphasize that this is a matter entirely within the province ot the operators concerned, and should be adopted only by a majority vote ; an organizer is in no way allowed to make any such demand as a right of office.
At the same time it is manifestly unfair for a man who is working in the interests of others to do so entirely at his own expense in time and loss of other opportunities of obtaining remuneration. In some cases the organizer is paid his normal wage by some single transport concern. This may not be so unsatisfactory where the concern in question is an important one with ample financial resources, but this is not always so. It would be better for every case to be treated upon its merits and suitable provision made where considered necessary. In this world the man who gives his services for no reward appears to be always in demand and, curiously enough, is often treated as if he were making his pile.
We may not have been very flattering in previous references to the actual benefits derived so far from the grouping system, but, perhaps, it is better to have some link rather than nothing, and it may be that this link will gradually strengthen until it is able to bear more of the load and thus prove its worth.