Unions Refuse 5s. Offer to Provincial Busmen
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AN offer by the provincial bus companies of an increase of 5s. a week in basic wages and certain improvements in working conditions was rejected by the trade unions at a meeting last Friday of the National Council for the Omnibus Industry. The unions had demanded also the introduction of a pension scheme.
When the unions refused the proposed increase, the employers withdrew their offer. They then suggested a joint reference of the claims to voluntary arbitration by the Industrial Court. This was also rejected by the unions. They said that they would refer the claims to the Ministry of Labour for settlement by the Industrial Disputes Tribunal.
In offering 5s., the employers clearly had in mind the increase of a similar amount recently given to London Transport's country busmen. The unions, however, wished to reduce the difference between the provincial and London country rates. This has been their policy for some time.
• The unions' refusal to accept arbitration by the Industrial Court was probably influenced by the court's award to London busmen, which precipitated the recent strike.
It was, on the other hand, the Industrial Disputes Tribunal which gave the favourable award of I Is. a week to provincial busmen after their strike in July of last year.
BIRMINGHAM BUSMEN SEEK • WAGE INCREASE
AMEETING with a sub-committee of Birmingham Transport Committee to diliscuss an immediate increase in wages for the municipal bus employees is being sought by the Transport and General Workers' Union. Birmingham Corporation do not observe the national municipal wage scale and negotiate rates separately.
No amount has been specified, but the men say they require at least fis. 6d. a week. This would cost the corporation some £87,000 a year—approximately equal to last year's surplus. The claim is based partly on the economies that the busmen have helped to achieve.
TICKET-MACHINE MAKERS MERGE
TT was announced on Monday that I ticket issue machine manufacturers, Mycalex and T.I.M., Ltd., of Cirencester, Glos., had acquired Ticket Equipment, Ltd., Ashcroft Road, Cirencester, manufacturers of the Gibson ticket machine. The Gibson will continue to be produced as an addition to the Mycalex and T.I.M. range, which will now be marketed by the new company.
The merger will enable the range of machines handled by agents throughout the world to be increased and, at the same time, permit a more intensive development programme to be undertaken to meet the continually growing demands of transport operators.