Brave Venture
Page 25
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NEXT Wednesday the Road Haulage Association's new labour relations committee will be born. It will comprise some of the RHA-nominated members of the employers' panel on the Road Haulage Wages Council and some members of the provisional committee which has done the spadework so far. Then the 12-man committee will start work—work which, potentially, could be among the most important briefs presented to the road haulage industry in recent years. In a sense it is a pity that such a body has received only quillified approval among certain sections of the industry; in another sense, however, it may be as well for the task to be approached cautiously because one major miscalculation could entail incalculable harm to employer-union relations.
There must, however, be no doubt about the ultimate aim of this brave venture--to achieve one body through which elected representatives of employees and employers (RHA, TRTA and BRS) can resolve their problems. It the new committee degenerates Into a rnere wagesnegotiating body for haulage workers— which it could do under its present brief—it will not have achieved that target, and a great opportunity will have passed.
The field of labour relations for the entire road goods transport industry is vast, and a rewarding one if cultivated with foresight and wisdom. Settlement of wages for haulage workers is only a corner of that field. In the recent words of the RHA secretary-general, Mr. G. K. Newman: " Unless we move forward we will not get sufficient. drivers of the Fight calibre to carry on our businesses."
A splendid aim. It will not be achieved by a timid,-over-cautious approach.