rippled dock dime limps on
Page 27
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
E VERNMENTs defeat th introduction of the latD k Labour Scheme is not o be the last attempt to ce rough this part of the tor ous Dock Work gul tion Act.
Ur ady the Government m de it plain that it will try in to get the measure ou h the House in the next sio — if there is a next sio of this Parliament.
in er the Dock Work gul tion Act, drivers ivi g at the docks either to d o with a load will have to Ten er their vehicles to the ide mercies of dockers to ye o the loading or undin point. • knd it is this that has upset ny • rivers, even those who on to the Transport and ner I Workers Union, the ion hat most of the dockers .o ould benefit from the asu e also belong to.
['he stormy passage of the t be an in 1976 when it proled or a five-mile corridor be laced around all navi)Ie aterways, inside which ork — including reh using, cold store work I d ving — was to be the se e of docke,rs.
knd the lastest attempt to end the work of dockers is :n i some quarters as the .lisa ion of a promise made th Prime Minister to .cue what he could of the t.
n N vember 1976, after the luct n of the docks corrir fr m five miles to half a le f llowing a House of rds amendment, Mr Cal;han told the dockers: "If we rt p serve what features nain of the Bill, we stand the st c ance of ensuring that sit ation will i'emain calm d w shall carry forward .',unit for dock workers." Now with the lastest defeat G vernment has warned tt it will try again, despite feat in both Houses of Parmen4 for the measure.
So f r reaction to the news thin the industry has been e of elief.
The Road Haulage Associa tion says that it is pleased that Parliament has not decided to "enshrine a monopoly situation."
A spokesman added: "Hauliers operate in a competitive market and we don't see why the dockers should be given any greater degree of security."
But this week many hauliers were reluctant to make their views on the docks situation known, fearing reprisals by the dockers if they publicly oppose the dockers' interests.
Aldready the Hull men have made it clear that action will come — and their leader has said that unless there is official Transport and General Workers Union action, it is almost certain that there will be unofficial action by the men in protest at the defeat of the measure.
The Freight Transport Association has never been enamoured of the Dock Work Regulation Act and came in for much criticism for its attitudes to the measure, so its reaction was to be expected.
"We are pleased at anything which delays the introduction of the Act," said a spokesman.
But now the Government is faced with a situation where it must frame a new Dock Labour Scheme under the terms of the Act — and it is virtually certain that Employment Secretary Albert Booth will be unable to do that within the life of this Parliament.
At present the industry is keeping very quiet about the failure of the scheme to pass through Parliament. It seems as though many people are crossing their fingers and hoping for the best as things carry on using the same scheme as has been in operation for some years.
"It is terrible when the management of a port does not have control over one of its major cost items like labour," said one transport man. The Confederation of British Industry was also vehemently opposed to the scheme as presented in the House of Commons. CBI statements have slammed the scheme as not recognising the declining demand for dock workers and compelling employers to take on unwanted workers.
• "We consider that the Government should face the need to finance an effective severance scheme to resolve the problems of redundant dockers," says the CBI's Industry Dock Work Group.
The CBI is also looking for the reconstitution of dock labour boards to include members who are independent of either the dockers or the port itself and who could give a broader outlook on the whole docks situation.
If there is a General Election in October, as now seems almost certain, then the situation may become extremely critical for the Government of the day. The Conservatives have already said that if they come to power, they will set about repealing the Dock Work Regulation Act, which is likely to bring confrontation back to the docks on the scale of the early 1960s. The only other option for the Tories would be to frame their own dock labour scheme under the terms-of the Act, but this would seem to be a little unlikely.
Whatever happens one thing seems certain: hauliers are facing a period of disruption at the docks around the country that will throw out schedules and could cripple trade throughout the country.