1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168 
Is the Conciliation Agreement Binding?
Page 91
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
A LTHOUGH it is over two years since the National tAjoint Conciliation Board issued its awards in connection with the wages and working conditions of employees of A and B-licence holders, the position with regard to the enforcement of these provisions is still chaotic. The Licensing Authorities, who have agreed to recognize the awards, are gravely concerned over the matter and a section of the National Board is pressing for further legislation to give greater effect to its decisions and to secure observance of the conciliation agreement by C-licensees.
The Ministers of Transport and Labour recently stated that the Government was determined that the industry should be carried on under fair conditions, although it had hoped to avoid complete statutory control of wages and conditions. Before reaching any decision as to future action, the Ministers intimated that they would appoint an officer from their respertive departments to exarnine the whole position. The present time is, 'therefore, crucial, and unless a voluntary, agree ment shortly be reached among employers and Workers "as a whole, further legislation is likely to be foisted upon the industry.
One of the greatest obstacles in the way of a general settle
ment is the doubtful legal force of the conciliation agreement. Two courts have, indeed, suggested that observance of the awards cannot be enforced in law, although the National Board was formed by the Minister of Labour (in fulfilment of a promise made in Parliament when the Road and Rail Traffic Act was under consideration), with a view to meeting the requirements of the 1930 and 1923 Acts.
. In an action brought, in January, by a worker against his employer for the non-payment of overtime rates, Judge ,Haydon, at Wandsworth County Court, London, expressed the opinion that the conciliation agreement was not binding Upon persons wles did not wish to observe it and that it had no statutory force.
Judge Has No Doubt About Invalidity. •
Two months later, Judge Dowdall, KG., at Liverpool County Court, in dealing with a somewhat similar case, remarked, "I should very much like this case to go higher, but I really have no doubt' in my own mind. I should think that, if the Act intended to give theoworkman the right of action, it would have said so.",
Until the validity of the agreement is tested in the High Court, or until new legislation is introduced to clarify the position, one cannot, be ceitain that the National Board's awards are legally binding The court decisions already given Provide strong support for the actions of those opera tors who decline to pay the alleged agreed wages.
The case for the agreement (from a legal, and not in esonornic, aspect) is, however, also of considerable sub-, stance. In the report of the National Board's sub-committee, which was set ur, "to consider in all its aspects the questionof hours, wages and conditions of employment," it is stated that "The Board has been influenced in all its proceedings by the understanding that it would be regarded as a proper body . . . and this report, therefore, is intended to provide a basis of fair wages and conditions, as contemplated in the Road and Rail Traffic Act . . ."
Section S (2) of the 19:113 Act reads : "It shall be a condition of every A lisence and of every B licence that the provisions of Section 93 of the Road Traffic Act, 1930, as amended and applied by this part of this Act, are complied with in relation to the authorized vehicles." Section 93 of the 1930 Act provides that wages and conditions of employment for public-service-vehicle operatives (amended to apply to servants of A and B-licensees) shall not be less favourable than those in connection with a
Government contract. The. contract of service as regards wages must comply with the Fair Wages Resolution of the House of Commons, of 1909.
• Under this resolution, the wages and conditions observed must be those recognized by employers and trade societies (or, in the absence at recognized wages and hours, those which prevail among good employers) in the trade in the district where the work is carried out. Where there are no recognized hours and wages, those observed in the nearest district in' whicn the general industrial circumstances are similar, shall be adopted.
Provision is made in Section 93 for disputes to be referred by the Minister of labour to the Industrial Court. If the Court decides that the section has been contravened, the offender may be dealt with as if he had• committed a breach of the conditions of his licence.
Section 32 of the 1933 Act also has an important bearing on the subject. It requires that, where any matter is referred to the Industrial Court, under,, Section 93 of the 1930 Act; 'the Court, in arriving at its decision, shall have regard to
any determination :brought to its notice, of a Joint Industrial
Council, Conciliation Board, or other, similar body, or contamed in an agreement between oiganizations of employers and , workers.
From these references, it seems almost that the instigators of the agreement have a cast-iron case for its legality.
In Yorkshire, however, it isheld by the supporters of the employers' counter-scheme that the National Board's awards may be disregarded and that, in the absence Of an agreement with the worxers, theirproposals comply with the Fair Wages Resolution.
It is understood that the local conciliation officer of the Ministry of Labour is considering certain alleged breaches of the National Board's awards and it is possible that, if these be referred to the Industrial Court, the question of the 'validity of the Yorkshire emploYers' counter-scheme may, inter alia, he raised. • • • In one case, the Industrial Court found that the wages and conditions specified in the Western Board's agreement were those commonly tecognized by employers and trade societies in the district, 'and decided that an operator who had not observed the agreement was acting in contravention of Section 93 (1) of the 1930 Act, as amended by Section 32 of the 1933 statute. • •
The case for the Yorkshire employers is, however, stronger than in the instance just mentioned, in that most of the operators' associations in the area:have endorsed the counter-proposals and have refused to accept the National Board's findings.
Hauliers Not Given a Fair Chance..
Economically, the conciliation agreement was premature. The industry was not given a reasonable opportunity of adjusting its operations under the licensing provisions. The improvement in the general conditions of the industry, which the licensing system has as its object, would have resulted in an automatic, if gradual, raising of the economic status of workers. •
Operators should have been allowed at least three years in which to accustom themselves to licensing control and . to bring their rates up to a standard which would have permitted an improvement in the wages and conditions of workers. Instead, they were pitchforked into an immediate reorganization of working conditions and were faced, on the one hand, with widespread rate-cutting and, on the other, with much-inflated expenditure, brought about by penal taxation, as well as by the higher wages required to be paid to employees. This is typical of treatment meted out to the -industry in recent years. c33