Political Commentary By JANUS
Page 49
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Another Round of Wages
REFRESENTATIVES of road haulage workers appear once again to have made use of the double shuffle in their recent application for higher wages. They have made separate approaches to the Road Haulage Wages Council and to British Road Services, so that the possibility of a concession from one party being used as a lever against the other has at least existed.
Criticism of this arrangement has not been so strong on this occasion. Whatever the tactical circumstances, there was a definite case for an increase. The last rise took place in February, 1955, and subsequently the interim index of retail prices has risen by eight points. Workers in other industries, including the bus industry, have recently had substantial advances in pay. At the time when the Wages Council met, claims were under consideration from the railwaymen, engineers, miners, (lockers and several other categories.
Separate negotiations with B.R.S. and the independent employers have now loSt the element of surprise. On this matter at least, nationalized and non-nationalized road haulage rnust.obviously be in contact, and it is in their interests to keep in step. The possibility of joint machinery is now openly discussed and its establishment may be the next stage.
No Discontent Giveu the present industrial situation, the recent wages application may have been inevitable, but it does not seem to have been inspired by any grave discontent on the part of the workers. For reasons of polities and of propaganda, drivers' conditions are often represented as harsh and uncomfortable, and this may be true even with the best of employers. It is also true that the drivers themselves are far from finding their lot intolerable. They are at least reasonably satisfied and content, particularly in comparison with workers in other industries.
Drivers of passenger vehicles, for example, enjoy higher rates of wages, although actual earnings may not he very much greater. Nevertheless, the bus companies are finding difficulty in keeping their men and recruiting new staff.
Not long ago, Mr. A. F. Neal, general manager of Manchester Transport Department, suggested the need to give individual municipal undertakings power to raise wages to overcome labour problems. While urging that national wage agreements should be kept intact, he said that they should be no more than the basic framework, within which individual undertakings could make their own variations. Without this flexibility, he foresaw that undertakings would be unable to find sufficient workers to provide the services that the usets wanted.
Between Cost and Convenience
He found little support. His proposal could mean that the desired services are given in return for increased fares. Users would have to choose between cost and convenience.
Mr. Neal made clear one difficulty that would arise with the formulation of a national wages policy for industry as a whole. Such a policy is sometimes advocated as the only answer to the leap-frogging tactics ef the unions.
It would involve serious restrictions on the freedom of the individual, and of groups, to bargain about the wages they should receive. It would be the first step on the way towards some form of dictatorship, and the example of the road passenger industry shows why the successive steps would appear to be inevitable. At a time of full employment, men will not work in an
.industry below a certain wage, and that wage becomes the minimum, whatever national or local agreements may happen to be reached between employers and the un ion s.
One may be sure that a wages increase in an industry will be followed by an advance in the rates, fare; and other prices charged to the public. It may be wondered, therefor, whether the cement and plasterboard industries are confident that they will have no wages demands for the next six months, and can therefore undertake not to increase their prices until at least June 30. The last increase in cement prices was a rise of 5s. a ton on August 1, 1955, bringing the average delivered price in the home market to about £5 a ton.
Cement production is rising and there seems to be no difficulty in selling all that is made. If the cement makers are captains of their souls, however, they are not necessarily masters of their rates. They have calculated that coal, electric power and transport account for nearly half their total costs. They therefore hope that the providers of these services and goods, and the trade unions concerned, will co-operate in keeping charges stable. If assurances can be given, the cement makers say that the period of six months during which they will not increase their prices "may well be extended."
The hope is worthy, but not much better than forlorn. The British Transport Commission are busy with their plans to secure approval for a merchandise charges scheme that, to judge from the information available, is bound to mean higher rates. An increase in wages for railway workers will have a similar effect. The Commission, or so it seems, could help the cement makers only by discriminating against other industries that have failed to announce in advance their intention to keep prices down. As a safeguard against this contingency, other industries may follow the example set in cement. Some are already considering taking the step.
Mixed Blessing This is all to the good, but not if it is taken as the excuse to oppose all increases in transport charges regardless of the merits of the case. The Commission, having the predominance in a wide field of transport, can to some extent hold their own, but they may not find things easy when they are opposed by, for example, the cement makers, comparatively few in number and acting closely together. The threat of the C. licence has lost none of its potency.
The haulier is even less favourably placed. The cement companies can appear to present him with an ultimatum, to which he may feel compelled to yield, even when faced with a higher wages bill. The increase to 30 m.p.h. in the speed limit for heavy goods vehicles, if it came about, might help some operators, but certainly not all. There is, therefore, a potential danger to hauliers whc41 one or two powerful industries endeavour, by taking an independent stand, to halt the rising tide of inflation. Higher wages for goods-vehiele drivers may be another twist of the spiral, but nobody has yet found a reliable method of reversing it.