Beckett: no single figure
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INDUSTRY must get away from the idea that there is a single percentage wage increase which can be applied each year, Confederation of British Industry director general Sir Terence Beckett said in London last week.
Speaking o the National Association of Warehouse Keepers, he said that the last pay round represented a breakthrough as it had become "unhooked': from the cost of living index for the first time in 20 years.
He stated it was wrong to believe that there is one single figure for pay settlements, and said the present position in which settlements have ranged from nothing to over 20 per cent is "exactly where we need to be".
"Some can afford a reasonable settlement, and some can't. Even in one industry," he added. He called for a concerted effort to be made by management, employees, trades unions, and the Government to improve upon Britain's sluggish economic performance, but he cited major advantages which work in the country's favour.
Britain is the only major industrial nation which is self-sufficient in energy.
Its inventiveness has helped it make strides in areas like the exploitation of North Sea oil, it is still the commercial and international centre of the world, and it enjoys relative political stability, said Sir Terence.
He believed it is vital that Britain remains in the European Economic Community, and said that the Labour Party's plans to withdraw from Europe could leave Britain without access to a market of 269m people.
He pointed out that 43 per cent of Britain's trade is now with EEC countries.