Jack Jones wins his battle
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with the militants by John Darker
• The TGWU biennial delegate conference at Brighton this week was a supremely political event. The major debates — pay and prices, pensions, the Industrial Relations Act, worker participation, and industrial training — stole the thunder from more domestic matters.
The many motions on the agenda touching on specific trades, such as road haulage and buses, tend to be put down by members who are dissatisfied by the detailed policies followed by the largely autonimous trade groups. It makes little sense for a mass audience of nearly 1000 delegates to pronounce on detailed trade matters; the delegates who managed to raise questions on the annual report usually find that their query is smoothly fielded by the national trade group secretaries (Ken Jackson and Larry Smith for the road haulage and bus sections) and told the issue will be looked at again in the relevant trade groups.
Gamesmanship Trade union gamesmanship is evident during the early part of the week's conference when batches of resolutions are put through the sturdy mincing machine of the standing orders committee. Persistent delegates wishing to press an unpopular point find themselves closeted with a committee for lengthy periods and thus denied participation at the conference.
There was a 200-strong lobby, of militants organized by the Left-wing Trades Union Alliance movement at the Brighton Dome on Tuesday when Mr Jack Jones successfully opposed a motion calling for the TGWU to pull out of the TUC's talks with the Government and CBI unless statutory control of wages was abolished; the Industrial Relations and Housing Finance Acts were repealed, and all rent increases cancelled; and immediate prices freeze was applied to basic foods and Government food subsidies introduced.
The debate was long and emotional. Twenty-nine speakers were called and the loudest applause greeted those who would have Mr Jones "ditch" the talks with Mr Heath.
In the autumn, if there is no consensus on wages, the balloon will go up in labour relations. It seems inconceivable that the Government can permit free collective bargaining as the TGWU and the TUC so ardently desire.
Hardliners argued that a renewed dialogue wouldbolster up the Gqvernment • . . All Jack Jones' debating skills would not make Mr Heath change his policies. Since • the TGWU had not recognized the Industrial Relations Act, why should it bother to talk to the Government now? Why go along to Downing Street for a few crumbs of the loot gained in recent years by property speculators and asset strippers? Since the Prices Board had granted 288 price increases and issued only 11 rejections, was it not obvious that talks were a sham?
Collaboration Others said shop stewards might detest their employers but this did not prevent negotiations, and the Government was the biggest employer of all. Spokesmen from depressed regions begged for the talks to go on; how else, they said, could the Government be persuaded to pour money into areas suffering acute unemployment?
Mr Jones cleverly exploited ambiguous wording in the resolution. "How can you each achieve the objectives in the resolution without testing the grounds?" A refusal to talk meant that the resolutions passed on pensions and collective bargaining could be torn up. The question was whether the TGWU case should be put or not; to put the Government in the dock or to put the union in the position of being blamed for not talking.
• In a motion supporting industrial democracy which was carried overwhelmingly, the TGWU welcomed workers' representation on management and supervisory boards and other decisionmaking bodies based on the shop stewards system and on a basis of 50 per cent or more involvement. This was conditional (a) on representatives retaining their trade union functions, and remaining responsible to their members; (b) the express wish of membership directly concerned; and (c)• on workers' representatives having the right to examine relevant documents.
Mr Jones said the union saw this as joint control of industry; others called it management by consent.
The conference has been "jollied along" briskly by its veteran busman/chairman Leonard Forden. The annual report which provided an opportunity for scores of delegates to praise or criticize their officials on the platform occupied most of Monday; a motion in the closing half-hour, on the queaion of a 35-hour week with strict limitations on overtime, was passed overwhelmingly after Mr Jack Jones, general secretary, had given it powerful endorsement by revealing that between 40 and 50 firms had already cut the 40-hour week without loss of pay.
Recruitment Recruitment at the rate of 1500 new members a week has cheered the TGWU recently. Its membership, now 1,776,790 has increased by 250,000 in the past three years — the previous gain of took 23 years — and it is now an 11-union amalgam; a massive drive to organize the garage industry was announced.
The commercial services ,group under national secretary Ken Jackson, reported an increased membership of 13,823 in the past two years. The group's total membership of the 207,688 does not reflect the road haulage work force; there is a move afoot to transfer many drivers from specialist trade groups to the commercial services sector.
Bus section membership, however, has decreased by 15,582 to 148,311 in the past year owing to conversion to single manning and some cutting of unremunerative mileage; a drive to boost coach driver membership is under way.
The commercial services report revealed interesting details of pay settlement. Calor Gas Continental Services, for example provide the basic wages in line with the UK companies of £32 per 38-hour week giving a guaranteed wage of a Monday-Saturday schedule of £59.72, or from a schedule running to Sunday to Friday of £63.92.
Some companies in the petroleum industry have lump sum benefit schemes for drivers unable for medical reasons to continue driving.
It was surprising to note that in the public services and civil air transport group, the TGWU has negotiated salary scales for BEA /BOAC senior staff in London which run from £3931 on the lowest scale to £7038 on the highest. The "dirty money" type of bonus familiar in docks and haulage for years is spreading in air transport. Cargo consisting principally of monkeys rates an additional 45p!
Pensions Mr Larry Smith, national secretary of the passenger services group told questioners that the National Bus Company and the Scottish Bus Group had now agreed on a pension scheme for busmen. This had been approved by the Government actuary. It should be introduced in April 1974 but the Government would need to fork out £12m for back service credits.
Other points made during debate:— Larry Smith: More towns should follow Nottingham in moving to a free fares situation for buses. Bus transport should be a social service.
Jack Jones: 14-m jobs of all grades including management were lost through productivity increases since 1966. If hours per week are reduced by 5 it would create 2m jobs. Another delegate said that within six to seven years, if the Channel Tunnel were built 3000 jobs would go in Dover — the tunnel would affect all ports from Hull to Southampton.