IIC on horizon for the West Midlands
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EST MIDLANDS hauliers and the Transport and General orkers Union are on the brink of establishing a joint industrial iuncil. They expect it to meet at the end of next month, reports LAN MILLAR.
Both the Road Haulage 3sociation's area secretary )b Ward and TGWU's Jim unt told CM that they are !ry much in favour of the EC hich is being aided by the dvisory, Conciliation, and rbitration Service.
Draft proposals have ready been approved, with inor modifications, by GWU shop stewards, and HA's area committee will !ach its final decision in midpril, in time for an inaugural leeting at the end of the Lonth.
The constitution calls for 18 Lembers of the JIC, nine from ich side, and the chairmanlip and vice-chairmanship rill alternate between the two des.
For the past 18 months, both ides have been painfully ware of the need for such a ody, as the absence of a rages council has left formalLed collective bargaining in mbo.
While the latest wage egotiations were settled in ne day of tough talking, there ave been no ground rules for ther issues at stake, and there as always been a risk that omeone would exploit this.
According to Bob Ward, it vill help the two sides arrive at the nuts and bolts of a binding agreement which will start with the establishment of a proper grievance procedure.
Jim Hunt told CM this week: "I hope the JIC will set up a permanent body for the exchange of opinions. It is not a magic formula to wave away all disputes, but I am very pleased that it is coming."
The Union intends to use the JIC as the basis for a shop stewards' handbook which will be used in the area.
Among early matters which the employers want to settle, especially in light of the steel strike, is a procedure for suspension of the guaranteed week. They are also keen to establish a uniform procedure for overtime payments.
West Midlands was one of the last — and certainly the most important — area left without a JIC structure after the death of the wages council, and its move brings it into line with the RHA's national policy of adopting a life of living with local deals.
While it would prefer a return to national negotiations, it accepts that those days have probably gone for ever.