S. Wales drivers bid
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SOUTH WALES drivers' union representatives this week began to make direct approaches to hauliers in the region, seeking 1983 wage agreements at company level.
A mass meeting last weekend gave the Transport and General Workers Union authority to pursue claims at company level, with a £90 basic rate being sought for Class 1 hgv drivers. The rate being sought for Class 2 drivers is £87.80 and for Class 3 is £85.60.
The increased subistence rate being sought is £10.50 (£1 above last year's level). The 1982 basic rate for Class 1 drivers in South Wales is £85 for 40 hours.
TGWU officer Geoff Jacob said this week that the new rates were being incorporated into draft agreements which the union would seek to ratify with individual companies. He said they were based on average increases agreed in other parts of the country.
Employers in the region have refused so far to make any offer to the drivers, but Mr Jacob claimed that an increasing number of operators had approached the union recently to establish the 1983 rate. He added that some were prepared to reach new agreements.
The Road Haulage Association was unable to comment on the union's action this week, but was expected to meet on Tuesday to discuss its next moves.
Mr Jacob said he would also be writing this week to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbiration Service, seeking its support in a recomposition of the employers' representatives on the South Wales Joint Industrial Council.
"The RHA represents a small minority of employers in South Wales," he said, and added that it was bad for industrial relations for such a body to control the interests of the employers.
North West England TGWU officer Bob Robinson said on Monday that around 60 company agreements have been reached in the region, where regional negotiations have broken down. Many of these are in Birkenhead, where strike action last week was strongest.
Employers there are no more optimistic than trades union representatives about regional negotiations there being revived next year.
Agreement has been reached in Northern Ireland between unions and the NI Road Transport Association. The £86.67 top weight basic rate there goes up by 6.1 per cent to £92, while the guaranteed week has been raised from 40 to 42.5 hours. Subsistence rises from £11 to £11.30, with all of this increase being on bed and breakfast, which rises to £7.65.
Union claims that the increase is worth 14 per cent were dismissed last week as "sheer nonsense" by NIRTA secretary Stanley Martin who told CM that the lengthened guaranteed week meant no additional cost to employers.
On Tyneside, results of a ballot of drivers (CM, February 12) are expected next week. TGWU officer Geoff Eggleston told CM that no recommendation was being made on the offer, which would raise all grades of basic pay by £2.75 with effect from February 1. Top rate would be £87.75 with effect from February 1. Top rate would be £87.75. Subsistence would rise by 25p to £10, but only for drivers of day cab vehicles.
Mr Eggleston added that the union has assured hauliers that a rejection of the "final" offer would not lead to immediate industrial action.