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New Wages and Conditions for goods-transport employees

4th January 1935, Page 35
4th January 1935
Page 35
Page 36
Page 35, 4th January 1935 — New Wages and Conditions for goods-transport employees
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The Findings of the National Joint Conciliation Board in Full. A 48-Hour Week to be Guaranteed. An Interim Arrangement Regarding Grading

LAST week we published preliminary details of the agreement reached by the National Joint Conciliation Board in connection with the wages and working conditions of road-transport employees. The agreement became operative on Tuesday last, January 1, and must be observed by all operators. 'An official announcement of the Board's findings has now been issued and we are able fully to deal with them.

Where, either by agreement with employers or with local associations, wages higher than those contained in the report are in operation and/or conditions superior to those specified prevail, there shall be no reduction of the wages or variation of the conditions, except by mutual consent. A 48-hour working week (Monday to Saturday) shall be guaranteed, inclusive of garage duties, but excluding meal times. After that period overtime shall be paid for the first eight hours at the rate of time-and-one-eighth, and afterwards at time-and-a-quarter.

Provision for Booking Off.

A man may be booked off (i.e., he shall be away from the vehicle and free from all responsibility for it), if away from home, for a period not exceeding two hours, exclusive of meal times, between two periods of driving, and he shall receive an allowance of is. for that. period or any part of it. This provision will be reviewed at the end of the year.

A man ordered to report and presenting himself for duty shall be paid for a minimum of two hours. If ordered to report a second time in the same day, he shall be paid for a minimum of four hours. A man commencing work on any day shall be paid for a minimum of four_hours. A regular employee may be brought in for a minimum of two hours to attend to his vehicle or engine. A man called upon to report and present himself for duty on Sunday shall be paid as above, at the rate of time-and-a-half.

A man casually engaged on long-distance or trunk services shall be paid for a minimum of 84 hours on any day from Monday to Friday, and 54 hours on Saturday if he be completing work which commenced before the Saturday. If engaged for a single, job on a Saturday he shall be paid for a minimum of 84 hours. • Time-and-a-quarter is to be paid for any time worked in excess of 84 hours daily from Monday to Friday, or 54 hours on Saturday. Overtime at the rate of time-and-ahalf ,s to be paid for all hours worked between Saturday midnight and Sunday midnight, with a guaranteed minimum of four hours at this rate. A minimum of 5s. subsistence allowance shall be paid for a period of rest not exceeding 12 hours, 7s. &I. if exceeding 12 hours and Ns. if more than 18 hours. Where the employer provides lodging accommodation, as approved by the Area Board, an agreed deduction shall be made for its use.

Holidays to be Paid For.

The following holidays are to be paid for : -Christmas Day, Good Friday, the four Bank Holidays and all nationally proclaimed holidays. If a man has to work on these days lie shall receive an additional day's pay. Where, in any trade or district, it is not the custom to' observe the normal statutory holidays, a day shall be selected in lieu thereof,

A week's holiday with pay must he given to regular employees, provided that they have been in continuous service for a year, and have not been absent for more than seven days in any year without reasonable cause or previous notification. This provision also applies if a temporary break of service, not exceeding a month, should occur, due to shortage of work or to other considerations outside an employee's control. The holidays shall be taken between April 1 and October 31, unless otherwise arranged.

In the accompanying tables we publish the rates of wages to apply on various classes of service and in the cases of different sizes of vehicle. Under the heading of " London Rates," it will he observed that in several instances two figures are given. These are the minima specified by the Industrial Court in 1932, the second and higher figure relating to workers engaged prior to June, 1932, and the first and lower figure to newcomers to the business.

It should be noted, however, that the workpeop/e's organization submitted, last spring, a claim to the respective employers' organizations for an increase of the London rates. The claim has not yet been disposed of, and the rates specified in the accompanying table have been inserted in the report without prejudice and will operate pending a settlement of the claim. When this is effected, the agreed rates will be substituted for those at present given.

The rates in respect of youths employed as drivers shall apply only to vehicles not exceeding 30-cwt. carrying capacity, and, in the case of vehicles above that capacity, the adult rate shall be paid. The youths' scales of pay are for an experimental period of two years, during which time the whole question of recruitment to the industry will be reviewed by the Board. The adult rate shall apply in any case where a person is 21 years of age or over.

The National Board's report contemplates the grading of the country into three classes, the first to cover important industrial centres and principal ports, the second other industrial areas and the third rural areas. As the grading could not be completed by January 1, the Board decided, without prejudice, to adopt an interim arrangement.

Under this, in important industrial areas, no employer shall pay lower wages than those set out,in Grade 2, in other industrial centres lower wages than those specified in Grade 3, and for purely agricultural services, as may be 'defined by the Area Boards, a rate not more than 10 per cent, below the Grade 3 scales, subject to a minimum of 45s.

The grading of areas shall be referred to the Area Boards, to be dealt with promptly. Failing settlement, the matter shall be submitted to the National Board, which will refer it to an appeals committee, presided over by an independent chairman. If the committee cannot agree, the independent chairman shall have a casting vote or make an award. The grading of the country must be completed by July 1 next.

So far as the metropolis is concerned, provided that a provincial employer is paying Grade 1 wages in respect of any traffic that may be picked up or set down in the London area, he shall not be deemed to be violating the London wages agreement. In connection with agricultural service's, these are defined as services corresponding with the " hire and reward' work carried on by farmers under "C " licences. The definition of long-distance and trunk services, as distinct from local services, shall be dealt with by the Area Boards.


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