AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

New pay council could end disputes

8th August 1975, Page 4
8th August 1975
Page 4
Page 4, 8th August 1975 — New pay council could end disputes
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

BIG BREAKTHROUGH has teen made in the labour relaions of the road haulage indusry with the setting up of a Dint pay council in Scotland.

This new move, agreed beween the Transport and leneral Workers Union and he Road Haulage Association, :ould be the forerunner of imilar schemes up and down he country. And that would ierald the end of the sort of trikes which crippled the ndustry last year.

The winding up of the Road Iaulage Wages Council is now ieing actively considered by he Secretary of State for Emiloyment, Mr Michael Foot. If ie agrees to axing the Cowlhe must suggest other tchernes to fill the vacuum and he joint industrial council dea may be the answer.

Wages, conditions, safety, !tc will all be covered by the icottish agreement. The new =mil covers more than 90 )er cent of Scottish hauliers ind about 9,000 drivers and vill replace the " shambolic iegotiations " which have )1agued the industry for years.

Negotiating problems came :o a head last year when ungficial strike leaders called a ;trike for a claim of El an lour and gained the support )f most Scottish private haulers' drivers. The union temp orarily lost control of the situation and the employers had no joint machinery to cope with what amounted to a national claim.

The five-week strike ended after the dispute was taken to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service with the union taking over the claim and negotiating with a group of the key employers.

The joint industrial council has been ratified by the members of the RHA and by the union membership, and will be in operation for the next round of wage negotiations. The Scottish area is the first to be covered by a joint industrial council though some English regions are working on similar schemes. The employers also wanted to combine the wage negotiations in the private sector with the nationalised industry negotiations, but this proved impossible.

A spokesman for the RHA said : "We are quite happy with the outcome of the discussions. For the first time, the employers will be able to speak with one voice and hopefully it will help to prevent damaging strikes."

Mr Peter Talbot, Scottish commercial transport secretary of the union, said : "The new council are not perfect, but it is an important breakthrough in negotiations.


comments powered by Disqus