Will URTU register and upset the TUC apple-cart?
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by John Darker
• Militant members of the United Road Transport Union were agog this week at rumours that the union was on the point of registering under the Industrial Relations Act. A special meeting of key officials at the union's Manchester hq today (Friday) may hear from general secretary Jackson Moore the outcome of his recent talks with Mr Vic Feather, TUC general secretary, and others.
The Bakers' union, I understand, has recently registered under the IR Act and this is important in view of URTU's substantial membership in the bakery and confectionery trades. Jackson Moore may well argue on Friday that despite URTU's
traditional acceptance of the TUC "line" on political matters, the Bakers' union could readily poach several thousands of URTU's driver /salesman members. If this happened URTU would be dealt a severe blow; at a time of vast inflation union general secretaries haN,e to choose between economic prudence and political conformity.
It is perhaps significant that Jackson Moore is a specialist at financial administration.
With the union mergers so topical just now — if the engineers and electricians get together they will oust the TGWU from their pre-eminent position — URTU is still being feverishly courted both by TGWU and the National Union of Railwaymen. It follows that a decision by URTU to register in self-protection would throw the main transport unions into a considerable tizzy.
One prominent URTU member told me that the general haulage members of URTU would leave "in droves" if registration is proceeded with. Jackson Moore's dilemma is evidently acute. A decision arrived at without the fullest consultation with members could be explosive, in several ways.