Drivers to Fight Agreement ?
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THE support of employees in the Yorkshire Traffic Area is being sought by the Yorkshire Stage Carriage Operators Association in its campaign against the findings of the National Joint Conciliation Board. A drivers' petition against the operation of the National Board's report is being organized.
The form which the drivers are asked to sign states :--`` . . whilst viewing • with sympathy the steps now being taken to improve our status and the road-transport industry in general, (we) nevertheless, feel seriously concerned at the report of the National Joint Conciliation Board, which excludes from its recommendations all C-licence holders. Having regard to recent legislative and administrative restrictions, we are satisfied to leave the question of wages and conditions to our employers.... It is understood that the whole position is to be exhaustively reviewed not later than January 1, 1936."
Hopes of good support for the petition are based on the contention that a comparatively small percentage of' drivers in the Yorkshire Traffic Area are members of a trade union, and that many will eign the petition on account of economic arguments put before them. Evidently it is intended to use the drivers' petition in conjunction with the information obtained from operators by means of the questionnaire which has been addressed to them, when representations are made to the Minister of Transport or in other quarters.
In a letter enclosing the questionnaire, Mr. Frank G. Bibleings, general secretary of the Y.S.C.O.A., recalls that, at the mass meeting in Leeds on February 17, "1,000 operators unanimously
resolved that we should not only continue to resist the report, but that steps should be taken to place the claims and desires of the industry before both the Minister of Transport and the members of the House of Commons."
Another mass meeting in support of the campaign will be held in the Tivoli Cinema, Sheffield, on Sunday next, March 10, at 7 p.m., and invitations have been sent to approximately 2,500 operators within a 25-mile radius of the city. Further sectional meetings have also been held in Sheffield, Hemsworth, Doncaster, Dewsbury and Huddersfield.
In an interview with one of our representatives, Mr. I3ibbings spoke of the possibility of extending the campaign to Lancashire and other Traffic Areas. "We invite operators and associations who are interested," he
said, "to communicate With us at 52, Basingliall Street, Leeds, I. From information we have received, it is evident that there is likely to be more support throughout the country for our counter-proposals than it is possible to obtain for the report of the National Board, and it may still not be too late to establish machinery on a national basis which will be more representative of the industry than this report". Anyone charged with careless , or reckless driving may be required to undergo the test, even if there he no question of fine or endorsement.
The case of the heavy-vehicle driver is different, as no provisional vocational licence is permissible for him. Even if he has not driven for an aggregate of six months he will not have to undergo the test until his present ordinary licence expires. It may not be necessary for him to be actually tested on a heavy motorcar but on a lighter commercial vehicle, provided the examiner be satisfied as to his ability to drive heavier types.
As the police are not examiners for the Ministry, new taxicab drivers in London will have to obtain certificates.