Devolution on wages?
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HAULIERS should welcome the Government's decision to have an official investigation by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service into the fate of the Road Haulage Wages Council. Before abolishing a body which many consider an anachronism, the Government needs to be reassured that its disappearance wilt not leave groups of lower-paid employees without wage protection; and transport operators will surely welcome any investigation which leads to better negotiating procedures and stability of agreements.
Because of the experience gained with the Scottish Joint Industrial Council for Road Haulage and similar bodies in Kent and elsewhere, and the hostility of the trade unions to anything smacking of centralised control of wages and conditions, it seems likely that area or regional JICs will be chosen as the pattern if the Wages Council goes. Each of these JICs would presumably be free to build on the "assenting hauliers"/TGWU negotiating structures, but the main fly in this ointment is that the employers' side lacks the constitutional authority which the unions enjoy. If regional negotiation is not to become one-sided (especially when the economy improves) the employers will need to establish negotiating and administrative skills and facilities to match those of the men's representatives. This is too important an area to be run on ad hoc and amateur lines.