NEWS of the WEEK
Page 26
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
The wheels of wealth will be slowed by all difficulties of transport, at whatever points arising, as a carriage is by the roughness of the roads over which it runs."—John Beattie Crozier.
GOVERNMENT TRANSPORT WAGE INQUIRY.
The first meeting of the committee appointed by the Ministers of Labour and Transport to examine and make recommendations with regard to the statutory regulation of,wages and conditions in the road-transport industry has been held. The National Joint Conciliation Board is to be invited to tender evidence, but it is not expected that the committee will take oral evidence until towards the end of
September. It is significant to note that the examination of -witnesses will be conducted in public.
Any person or organization desiring to submit evidence should get' into touch with the secretary of the committee at the Ministry of Labour, Montagu House, Whitehall, London, S.W.1.
Birmingham's £100,000 Floodlit Road Scheme.
Nearly £100,000 is to be spent on improving the lighting of Birmingham's main traffic. thoroughfares. The scheme, which is the biggest of its kind yet attempted in this country, ultimately involves the provision of nearly 4,000 mercury vapour discharge lamps, and affects nearly 200 miles in the city— a quarter of the total road mileage in Birmingham.
When this installation is complete, all the arterial roads leading from the city centre will be lit by the electric discharge system, as well as a considerable length of secondary traffic routes. A feature of the city's lighting will be the provision of " graded " lights along all roads leading into arterial roads. It is felt that danger arises from leaving a brilliantly illuminated road and passing into one where a much lower standard of illumination is in use.
Union Complains to Licensing Authority.
When Mr. Henry Riches, Northern Scotland Licensing Authority, sat at Kirkwall, a complaint was lodged by the National Union of General and Municipal Workers that certain carriers in the Orkneys were not paying the B16 wages or observing the conditions laid down by the Scottish Conciliation Board.
It was stated that a year ago, on the advice of Mr. Riches, local operators formed themselves into an association and asked the Conciliation Board to apply a different scale of wages and conditions to them, in view of their special circumstances. The Board declined to make any alteration and the local hauliers appealed to the Ministers of Labour and Transport, who had set up an independent committee to make recommendations on the whole matters In view of this information, the complaint was not pressed.
Referring to allegations of price. cutting, Mr. Riches said that Orkney hauliers should draw up agreed economic rates. Uneconomic working would not be permitted. APPEAL TRIBUNAL IN SCOTLAND NEXT MONTH.
The last sitting of the Appeal Tribunal before the summer vacation was held in London on July 30, when seven decisions, reported on pages 840-1, were given. The next sitting will take place in Perth on September 14 and subsequent days, and the Tribunal is expected to move to Edinburgh in the following week. • General Manager Required.
A first-class man with good organizing ability and extensive knowledge is required to manage a company controlling the marketing in this country of a high-grade make of commercial vehicle. Good salary and prospects are open to the right applicant. Letters should be addressed to " G.M.," care of the Editor.