THREE-POINT CLAIM FOR PROVINCIAL BUSMEN
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FROM OUR INDUSTRIAL CORRESPONDENT
A THREE-POINT claim is to be lodged at once on behalf of 170,000 provincial busmen to follow the recent pay settlement awarded to the London men. This was decided in London on Tuesday at a meeting of the full trade union sides representing both municipal and company men.
The move is much on the lines forecast in The Commercial Motor. The three points are a demand for an increase in basic rates of pay, a shorter working week of 40 hours compared with the standard week of 42 hours as at present, and a bonus scheme related to the operation of larger capacity buses and one-man buses. Mr. Sam Henderson, national passenger group secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union and the main spokesman for the busmen in all three sections of the industry, made it clear after the meeting that they were particularly concerned at the growing differential between pay and conditions in London and those in the provinces. He said: "The job of busmen in the provinces is similar in general to that of the London men and the differential as it stands now is unacceptable ".
He pointed out that drivers working company-owned services have a basic rate of £11 13s. 3d. and municipal men £11 12s. 9d. This compared unfavourably with the new basic rate of the men on the country services of London transport whose basic rate was now £13 6s. plus further bonuses based on efficiency.
By lodging a claim for special payments for working larger buses, many of which are already being operated without any extra pay, the busmen are opening a way to get higher earnings without embarrassing the employers too much by granting another increase in basic rates so soon after the last pay settlement earlier this year. Even so, the employers are expected to resist strongly any further rise in their wages bill which can lead only to even higher bus fares.
The new claim will be in addition to a demand for fringe benefits put to the National Council for the Omnibus Industry on behalf of 100,000 company men last week. The unions asked for extra holiday pay for maintenance workers, the establishment of a sick pay scheme foi all staff, schemes for an apprenticeship for motor vehicle repairing and for the training of young workers in industry, and a national agreement for a scale of minimurh rates of pay for apprentices and other young workers in the industry.