RHA seeks 3 wages fa Big lks
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HIGH LEVEL PAY talks with government and trade union representatives have been proposed by the Road Haulage Association. The RHA's motive would be "to remove hauliers from the crossfire of trade union claims and government sanctions and, if possible, to stop the crossfire in which members are caught."
RHA chairman Jack Male revealed this to delegates at the association's annual conference in Torquay this week. And he said the Government had now undertaken to consider the RHA's case for the establishment of a National Statutory Joint Industrial Council.
Already, he continued, those situations about which the association had warned the Government and the ACAS chairman, at last year's conference, were developing.
"The wage negotiations with the unions are placing our area negotiators in positions of great difficulty," said Mr Male. "As soon as one area is confronted by an ambitious wage claim, others are faced with another even more ambitious one.
Timidity
"What makes this situation particularly difficult for employers is that the Government's pay guidelines have been suggested to the trade unions with apparent timidity, an attitude which contrasts sharply with the Government's firm insistence that the guidelines must be adhered to by the employers and the threat of sanctions against those employers who fail to comply.
"The presumption seems to be that, whatever the extent to which, and whatever the circumstances in which, wage claims exceed 10 per cent, it is the fault, not of the claimants, but of the employers, if settlements are reached in excess of that figure," Mr Male declared and he continued: "If the Government wants to place a limit on wage increases, it cannot rely on threats or mere persuasion. It must be strong enough and bold enough to legislate to that effect."
Earlier, Mr Male said the complexities of wage negotiations would be increased by consultations over drivers' hours if EEC Regulation 543/69 were to be introduced on January 1 next. And he warned: "For trade and industry, it would prove not only disruptive but also very expensive. For the public, it would substantially increase the prices of all goods."
Commenting that hauliers were being caused "very great concern" by costs in addition to wages, particularly the cost of replacing vehicles, Mr Male said: "We are faced with increases in other items of operating costs. The increase in vehicle excise duties, provided in the last Budget, seems unlikely to satisfy the Chancellor's insatiable appetite for tax revenue from this industry, and we are, therefore, preparing our ground for a resumption of the argument with the Government over track costs."