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Unions Claim 10s. Increase for Haulage Men: Case Adjourned
Page 63
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BY A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT AFTER an eight-hour meeting, the Road Haulage. Wages Council last week adjourned until April 9 consideration of a claim by the unions for an increase in wages of 10s. a week, an extra 2s. -6d. subsistence
allowance, the up-grading of certain towns, and a reduction of the periOd during which holidays should be taken.
As The Commercial Motor reported last week, the employers' mood was firm. Their attitude was to refuse all the concessions.
One of the grounds of the claim was that the retail prices index had risen by four points since the last wage award was made. The unions attacked the construction of the index and argued that it did not reflect the true increases in the cost of living of working people. The general standard of wages in other industries and increases in pay granted in them were quoted. The existing scale for drivers was compared with the new rate of pay for private soldiers.
Subsistence allowances paid by leading C-licensees, which were substantially higher than the statutory amounts, were mentioned in support of the claim for an extra 2s. 6d_ In proposing that the holiday period should end on September 30 it was suggested that it was unfair to expect men to take their holidays in October.
In reply, the employers pointed out that the wages of haulage workers were higher than those of the lowest-paid workers in any of 66 industries covered by wages councils and negotiating machinery. The employers accepted the retail prices index, but maintained that a movement of four points did not establish a positive upward trend. They held that if an increase were granted, wages would rise in other industries. They pressed the need for stabilizing prices. The employers wished to conclude the negotiations on the spot, but the union representatives moved an adjournment, and the independent members of the Wages Council voted with the unions. The employers voted against the adjournment.