Employers' Evidence on Wages Unsatisfactory Position Revealed by Employers in Evidence Before Government Committee of Inquiry into Wages
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and Conditions
THE Committee of Inquiry appointed by the Ministers Of Labour `and Transport to examine the position regarding the regulation of wages and conditions of service in the road-transport industry (goods) again sat at the Ministry of Labour on Monday and Tuesday of this week.
Sir James Baillie, vice-chancellor of, Leeds University, presided, and with him were Mr. John Forster and -Sir Gerald Bellhotise. • ' Evidende was heard from a body of employers. .
Mr. G. Russell Vick, K.C., on behalf of the employers represented, said that the general opinion of those who would give evidence was that matters of wages arid conditions of labour ought to be matters of district government, district control, and district organization. There must, of course, be a London organization, but wages and conditions should be district matters, Everybody was agreed, said Mr. Russell Vick, that there must be some machinery of enforcement set up regarding stabiliza• lion of rates, A.R.O. Offers Evidence.
Mr. R. W. Sewill, national director of Associated Road Operators, then presented' to the Committee a general statement of case. " In order to determine whether an employer is fut• filling the condition of his licence to observe the fair wages resolution of the House of Commons, one has not to take the highest type of employer, or, indeed, the type of employer who just fails to reach that standard, but one must take the ordinary type of good employer in the trade in the particular district, and ascertain what are the wages paid, and the conditions of employment observed by him," the statement pointed Out.
"It would alw appear to follow that the wages and .conditions of employment must vary from district to district—possibly on account of cost of living, standard of living and matters of that kind—and whilst it may be possible, though diffiedIC to lay down conditions of employment suitable throughout the country, yet the actual amount of wages, and indeed the basis of calculation, may vary' from traffic area to traffic area—from district to district----and, indeed, according to the class of work upon -which the driver or statutory attendant is employed."
Constitution of Board Unsatisfactory.
The statement of case contended that the original constitution of the Board was "entirely' unsatisfactory," and pointed out that the members of the Board as thus constituted in so far as they were employers, represented largo concerns the principal business of which was the transport of goods over trunk routes and which were without any personal knowledge of the conditions under which smaller firras operated; or of the conditions obtaining in particular areas, or in regard to classes of work Other than trunk ser
Questioned on this matter, Mr. Sewill said that their chief criticism .was that the areas-, as areas, were not properly represented.. .Something had now been done in this respect 'and a' start -made: -The. statement continued: It will be appreciated that cOnditions. in the roadhaulageindUstry, 'so .fan: as em. ployers and employees :are concerned, have' come to a state 'of absolute chaos, particularly' by reason of the fact that, in fixing the various grades of wages, the Board has mainly relied upon London and Liverpool agreements and has scaled 'the same down in dealing with Other districts, instead of taking each district on its .merits and fixing an appropriate scale for each area,
" Further chaos has arisen by reason of the fact that even in the London and Liverpool districts, where the rates were fixed after some investigation by the Board, only 10-15 per cent, of the ernployers have taken any notice or observed the scales fixed."
No Desire to be Destructive.
It was not the desire of the employers' representatives to be destructive. On the contrary, it was their wish to be constructive, and it was felt that whilst wages must vary from district to district, it • should be possible to formulate national conditions appli• cable to all employers in the roadhaulage industry which would not create undue hardship on either side:.
Mr. Sewill subinitted that the Board should be reconstructed. An independent chairman 'with' legal training should be appointed, such chairman to be agreed upon by the Employers' and Employees' Panels, and that there should be two representatives from each Area Wages Board. National conditions should, he" said, be decided by the National Board.
In the first instance, area boards should determine the wages paid by good employers in each district under its area, and in Case of dispute the matter should be referred to a person nominated by the Lord Chancellor, a representative nominated by the Ministry of Labour on behalf of the employees' organization, and a representative nominated by the Ministry of Transport On behalf of the em ployers' organization, after consulta. tion with the appropriate organization; the wages and conditions of employment so determined to be deemed to be incorporated in every contract of service between A or B licensees on the one hand, and their drivers or statutory attendants on the other. • • Prosecution . for non-observance, it was Submitted, should be undertaken . before a Court of Summary -Jurisdiction by the Licensing Authority, after consultation with, or by the appropriate Joint Area Board. It was suggested that the Licensing Authority should be empowered to revoke or suspend licences for repeated breaches of Conditions.
' Rate. Stabilization Essential.
Conditions conld only be dealt 'with by 'rate stabilizatidn. It was, therefore,of Paramount . importance that ruesShould be. stabilized. Rates had always been flied with reference to cost Of operation, and to avoid unnecessary competition :the' actual cost of opera-. tion must be based on a uniform scale.
Mr. Sewill said that he did not think it would be difficult to get agreed rates for road haulage, at first locally, and later for trunk routes. The difficulty would be in enforcement.. He then presented a further memorandum on the national aspect of the situation.
He said that Associated Road Operators had a membership of A and Blicence holders exceeding 11,000. The employers for whom he spoke formed a representative and substantial body, all of whom were personally engaged in the road-transport industry. Besides his own association, he represented employers from every traffic area in the country, members of the Motor Transport Employers Federation, a group of employers' organizations in the NorthWestern traffic area and kindred organizations—in all, probably not fa. short of 15,000 employers.
They recognized the need for stabiliZation of wages, but, he went on, " Where we join issue with the National Joint Board is in-the methods which it has adopted in endeavouring to force upon the industry an arbitrary scale of wages and a set of conditions which it has laid down, and against which the only court of appeal is a committee of itself.
No Regard to Local Conditions.
" We feel that it did not in the first' instance pay sufficient regard to the wages that were being paid in the areas prior to the date of its award. Moreover, we feel that it allowed the various area boards, which, after all, should know far more about local conditions, no latitude whatsoever in these discus. sions " We know that not once, but several times, local boards had actually reached agreement between employees and employers, only to be told by London that such agreement would not be recognized."
Mr. SewilI said that they would agree to complete enforcement, but insisted that the following conditions must first be fulfillecl:.--The Employers' Panel of the National Board must be reconstituted; the Area. Boards most he allowed complete freedom to negotiate wages locally; a set of national ccuiditiona which caukl,. with confidence, be recommended to employers must be drawn up by the. new Board;. the position oi the C licensee, the farmer licensee,, and the owner-driver must be dealt with; also. the problem of competition within the industry, by the licensing of clearing houses and by rate stabilization, which in turn involved stabilization with other forms of transport.
Gradual' Settlement Desirable.
Mr. C. Holdsworth then gave evidence on behalf of a group of employers in the Yorkshire area, pointinz out that, in the light of the experience gained in the past two years-, one conk! arrive at no other conclusion than that the forcing of the decisions of the National Board in their final formupon the industry in one step, would be fax too onerous., and have disruptive effects, quite unnecessarily. A more gradual settlement of the matter would have been prefealect.
Opening the proceedings on Tuesday, Mr. C. H. Holdsevorth said he strongly repudiated a suggestion that Yorkshire employers were out to wreck the agreement. The representation of the Yorkshire Employers Association was made at the members' own expense.
Statements were then put in on behalf of 10 areas.
Mr. E. 0. Gray, speaking for the
East Midland area, said the decision of the National Board had never been-put into effective'operation in his area, and it was being observed by only a few employers. It was considered that the conditions were harsh and beyond the capacity, of the industry to; pay.
Mr. W. Parnworth, for the NorthWestern, aurae said they were working very amicably and he had no doubt they woulld have continued to do siaL
The chairman.: "Under your Own conditions."' Mr. Farnworth said the payment of a fair standing, wage for an ordinary normal working week was the main consideratien He agreed that there should be a basis for wages and conditions.
Hie:suggested the formation of local vigilance committees representing the trade unions and employers), to see that employers were paying fair wages.. and maintaining reasonable conditions, Mr. W. W_ Walton, for the Northern area said that in that area an agreement to pay. wade 2 wages was reached, but only about 10 per cent. of the operators observedit, owing to want of enforcement. They were handicapped' by those outside the agreement—the C. licensees and the owner-drivers,
The chairman:. " Why did yen make am agreement,. knowing the C licensees and. the Qwner-drivers. were outside. it '
Mr. Walton: " We endeavoured to come to an agreement with the trade unions,: but they were trying to enforee on us; grade 1. It was, well understood that the C licensees could not be brought in at the-moment, but wewere relying on the National Board bringing them ha palmately."
Mr. Walton went on to say that his area wason the border-line. Scotland was within 10 miles of the Northern area,' and Scotland was only grade 3. The chairman: " What is your suggestion?"
Mr. Walton: " Our suggestion is that the Scottish people should be brought into line. with the Northern area. Scottish. operators coming into the Northern area should pay northern wages.'' The chairman: 'Do you mean they shourel change their rates on the road after crossing the border?
Mr. Walton: The Scottish employers should pay the same rate of wages as are being paid in. Newcastle— grade Z. At the moment they are required to pay only grade 3."
Enforcing Observance of Conditions.
The Western area, as a result of a questionnaire to members, submitted general observations. It was considered that stronger machinery should be introduced to secure observance of the National Joint Conciliation Board agreement, or the conditions contained in any new agreement.
There were many glaring cases of A and B. licence holders not even recognizing the grade 3 rate of wages. The machinery at the present time was totally inadequate to deal with this matter.
Mr. G. Russell Vick; KC., summing up for the employers; said there was very strong, evidence that the National joint Conciliation Board did not feel the pulse of the industry. It had not obtained the confidence of the roadtransport industry.
The Committee adjourned at this point, and will sit in Edinburgh next Monday; October 19, to take Scottish evidence.