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Get together
Page 4
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The industrial relations ad hoc committee formed by the RHA and TGWU could soon become more important than the two bodies first visualised. The rejection of the Government's pay policy by the Labour Party this week may well be a major contributory factor in the albeit unwilling development of the committee.
A return of free collective bargaining does not necessarily mean a stampede down the road to inflation nor need it mean the law of the pig trough where the biggest snout gets the most. It does need controlling however, There can be no return to the days of the Road Haulage Wages Council. It was ineffective. But the industry must seriously consider agreements and conditions of service negotiated at national level. Concepts like the West Midland Agreement and area settlements must be actively discouraged, indeed banned. They encourage pig trough negotiations.
If the Government's pay restraint policy has done nothing else it has given the industry the opportunity to put its pay negotiating house in order.
Surely men like Chris Dixon of RHA and Jack Ashwell of TGWU who have known each other over the years Can properly represent all their members interests at the negotiating table? Surely now is the time to give the concept a try. It would display maturity and a sense of responsibility that others might well copy.
Although the suggestion of national negotiations may not be readily acceptable in high places, operators have more than once in the past found favour with the idea.
Why should there be 12 variations on the wages theme — why should there be 12 separate negotiating bodies.