Mr. Cousins returns to the fold some
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BY JOHN DARKER. AMBIM ?THE resignation from the Cabinet of
Mr. Frank Cousins has unleashed a flood of speculation which is not likely to abate until the effect of his return to the TGWU saddle is known.
Though some would see in his return to the trade union fold some sharpening in his union's attitude to the Government's prices and incomes policy, it is difficult to see how much more militant the TGWU could get, short of an all-out struggle to bring the Government down regardless of the consequences.
The TGWU refused to give evidence to the P. and I. Board at the recent enquiry into busmen's pay and conditions, in contrast to the AEU and NUGMW who submitted helpful evidence to the Board. Subsequently, the TGWU publicly scorned the busmen's pay report, and it has made it clear on numerous occasions that radical measures to increase productivity—especially if these measures are accompanied by generous pay settlements—are more to its liking. With a former Minister of Technology at the helm it would be reasonable to expect powerful backing of the TGWU's recently established research and productivity department. This welcome development—such departments have been common in American trade unions for many years—will need to liaise closely with the well developed education department, for it is no use developing advanced productivity schemes unless they can be sold in convincing fashion to the members.
However sincerely Mr. Cousins opposes the Government's Prices and Incomes Bill, which will "authorize the bringing into force of provisions requiring notice of price increases, pay increases and other matters, and for enforcing a temporary standstill in prices or charges or terms and conditions of employment" it seems all too probable that other factors have influenced the resignation decision. Apart from the passions, affecting people in all parties, raised by the intensification of the Vietnam war, Mr. Cousins will have been party to Cabinet discussions on transport policy. What he has learned may not have proved to his liking—no minister can reconcile the conflicting policies of the major transport trade unions painlessly, and these policies are not the only factors, nor the most vital, in framing the Transport White Paper. Harry Nicholas and Jack Jones have borne the brunt of the TGWU's administration since Frank Cousins' departure on leave of absence in October, 1964. Their personal attitude to his return provides an interesting subject for speculation. Recent meetings of Mr. Cousins with his former colleagues may have influenced his decision and its timing.
National support An opinion survey in the latest issue of the Sunday Times revealed overwhelming support nationally for the temporary imposition of wage freeze policies, subject to their fair application. Mr. Cousins and his friends should not underrate Mr. Wilson's ability to develop the national arguments for moderation in wage demands, and George