Steve Geary looks at progress since . . .
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Road Haulage Wages Council
WHEN the Road Haualge Wages Council met its death, earlier this year, it was as a result of the Government's Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service report. But what has happened since the funeral? Unions and Road Haulage Association fought a post-funereal battle over the terms of the will with the RHA seeking a Statutory Joint Industrial Council and the unions wanting the wages negotiations at regional level.
And now it looks as though the unions have won the day. Already, there are Joint Industrial Councils in three areas with plans for many more.
RHA industrial relations officer Chris Dixon says the RHA is being approached to form more JICs — and the Tranport and General Workers Union is conceding ground on the boundaries of the new bodies.
"We wanted a Statutory Joint Industrial Council to replace the old Road Haulage Wages Council," said Mr Dixon. "I don't think any of us accepted the old Wages Council.
"Main point of all the arguments was that we don't mind what the level of pay is as long as everybody is paying the same nationwide," he added.
And this is exactly what ACAS said in its 64-page report on the wages situation. But Mr Dixon thinks it will take a long time for that objective to be achieved without the SJIC to back it.
Scotland has had its own JIC for some time — and it is likely to come into action, soon, when the unions renegotiate the annual pay agreement over the next few months. For the Metropolitan area and the North Western (Eastern) areas though, this will be the first time around.
There are meetings scheduled to set up JICs in the RHA Eastern area followed by the Southern area, which covers three TGWU areas, and the Devon and Cornwall, Western and South Wales areas with a discussion meeting for Liverpool on the timetable.
Mr Dixon commented that the TGWU appeared to be accepting the RHA area boun daries — something that was thought to be a major stumbling block when the system was first proposed.
Area boundaries of the unions and the RHA by no means coincide and when talks on national wages negotiations broke down, earlier this year, the outlook was black for the future of the industry.
Give-and-take
But now, with a certain amount of give-and-take between the two sides, it seems that, after all the sabre-rattling, things will be resolved without disruption.
The RHA has gracefully given up its legally-backed ideal of an SJIC to set a nationwide rate for the job and the unions, equally gracefully, have agreed to some sort of compromise over boundaries, So everybody should be happy.
But it rentains to be seen whether the new set-up will actually succeed later in the year when the many local agreements made between assenting hauliers and the TGWU and United Road Transport Union come up for renewal.
Whether they do work depends, to a large extent, on whether the regional union secretaries agree with the headquarters mandarins on the structure of negotiations — and, of course, on the membership.
So, the industry seems to be following the example set by ACAS who saw the old RHWC as a body to put forward the minimum rates for the job — a job that an SJIC would have merely taken over.
But in its report, ACAS still leaves the door to future talks over the setting up of a statutory council well and truly open. This, however, would only come about if the RHA was prepared to become a negotiating body.
The RHA has said it is now prepared to become such a body. But there have been no noises from any quarter that an SJIC is on the cards.
And without the setting up of an SJIC, there is still room for what ACAS refers to as "a forum wherein matters of common interest to all parties concerned in the functioning of the industry could be discussed."
Even this seems a little unlikely, though.
Up for renewal But as autumn approaches with many of the annual wages agreements coming up for renewal and, almost inevitably, disputes with them, where does the indistry go from here?
All hope seems to be pinned on the newly set up regional JICs and those other seven hoped for by the end of the year. For the regions and arE where JICs have not been up, it is likely to mean anotl year of the negotiations bei carried out by the assenti hauliers groups.
And ACAS says it was cc cerned that nothing exec wages was discussed by t assenting hauliers who cit the Wages Council orders the authority for discussing I not discussing matters outsi wages agreements.
ACAS admits that it sees t hire and reward section of t industry as being a "higlfragmented" business. But did not find any evidence th there was a need for a natior wages watchdog to look aft the interests of the employe( On the contrary — ti ACAS report said there w evidence that the unions h; enough control over the situ tion to safeguard the interes of the members.
But as yet, there is no sign the reformation of a nation JIC to set national levels wages in the industry as su gested by the report.
For the many hauliers wl have become involved wi the assenting hauliers' grou] the present outlook in ti whole industrial relations fie cannot be anything but bleal At the RHA conference, la year, vice-chairman John S bermann made it quite cle. for ACAS chairman Jol-, Mortimer that hauliers hz joined such groups to avo the possibility of confront tion with the unior individually over wages.
Regional pacts
At the last round of wag( talks, there were 14 region agreements between th assenting hauliers and a unions. Now with the JICs i action in some areas it anyone's guess what th numbers will be this year.
But many hauliers are cot vinced they will still be wit the assenting hauliers rath( than the JICs when the agrei ments come up for renewal.
Hauliers want only to be le to get on with their job c making their vehicles ear their keep — not to be dragge into long drawn out talks OW wages and conditions. Bt, they are likely to find then selves spending time an energy attending interminabl meetings to try to find som solution to the timeless prot lem of wages and condition for some time yet.