Haulage Workers Now. Want Inercase
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D OAD haulage workers Ire again :seeking increased wages. An appliL cation from them was expected, for it has become the practice for the unions, after submitting claims for higher wages for bus workers, to make demands on hauliers. The unions are seeking a substantial increase in wages, higher rates of subsistence allowance, and a new wages category for drivers of vehicles with a payload •capacity of over 18 tons (in, practice, lorry and trailer outfits). The workers have applied for a meet ingof the Road Haulage Wages•Council to he held to discuss the claim. No date has yet been fixed.
UNION SECRETARY CRITICIZES B.R.S. POLICY
THE reorganization plans of British Road Services, involvinp the closing of depots in the north-west, have been strongly criticized by the Transport and General Workers' Union. Mr. G. Intin, Manchester regional secretary of the Union, has informed the T.U.C. Advisory Committee for the North-West Region that he is much concerned about the effect on Union members, and on the standard of road services, of the closing of certain depot:, and proposalsto shut downothers. Two depots at Oswaldtwistle and Darwen were closed recently, and London traffic to the Blackburn area was transferred from the local depot to Manchester.. After protests had been made by the Union, a proposal to close Orrell depot had been deferred. Mr. Intin argued that B.R.S. policy was having an adverse effect not only on the working conditions of drivers, but also On the standard of service. He pointed out that many depots were built to serve local industries. The Blackburn depot, for example, served large paint manufacturing and paper works, ,but the transfer of London traffic from Blackburn to Manchester, which then had to be carried to Blackburn, meant an extra 20 milesmore each way. A B.R.S. spokesman said that the Union was being consulted before any changes in organization were made. Those that had already taken place had been necessitated by denationalization.