The unions wish to have their cake and eat it
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ISLIKE and distrust of employers inroad transport can both be seen in two resolutions carried unanimously by the Scottish Trades Union Congress in Perth. One resolution reaffirmed belief in• a co-ordinated iystern embracing all forms of transport, and demanded renationalization of road haulage ,without compensation for goodwill. The only payment would be for "current narket values for acquisition stock ". The second resolution opposed the principle of wage restraint. It was moved ay Mr. Alex Kitson, general secretary, Scottish Commercial Motormen's Union, who alleged that private hauliers, inlike British Road Services, had taken advantage of higher ;peed limits without paying more wages to the drivers.
The resolutions do not come as a surprise. There might have been reasons for supposing they would not have been put forward. At the Labour Party conference last October it. was made clear that the party leaders wished to avoid he subject of nationalization during the period before the aeneral Election; and it was known at the meetingin Perth that within a fortnight there would come into force ley,/ scales of road haulage wages representing a 4 per cent ncrease. On the other hand, Mr. Kitson was one of the delegates at the party conference who expressed disappointnent that nationalization was not on the agenda; and the :hronic pressure now being exercised by the unions bears ess and less relation to the rhythm of the Road Haulage Wages Council.
Although the decisions taken at Perth were expected, :hey are disturbing. Their juxtaposition shows perhaps nore clearly than ever before that the unions wish to have :heir cake and eat it. Road operators should examine the Iwo resolutions carefully and be sure in their own minds what answer should be given. Whether or not there may be a legitimate case for extra payment in some circurn;tames, the arguments put forward at Perth for the most part do not hold water, just as there is no sensible case or renationalization and even less for the suggestion that aauliers do not deserve to receive proper prices for their ausinesses.
Ile Drivers' View
If a poll could be taken among the several thousand drivers who are employed in businesses likely to be threatened with nationalization and who are therefore the only workers with a direct interes,t in the subject, there would almost certainly be a majority in favour of leaving road haulage under free enterprise. This may not be a decisive factor but it should to some extent disqualify the transport unions from claiming that they have a special right to be heard, or that they are acting on behalf of a victimized section of their fellow workers.
In putting forward his motion Mr. Kitson had a good deal to say on the subject of productivity. It had gone up by between 55 and 60 per cent., he claimed, apparently without specifying the period he had in mind. Always with the honourable exception of B.R.S. the workers had received nobenefit from the increased productivity. The speed limit had been put up from 20 to 30 and then to 40 m.p.h. and all the advantages of the.relaxation had gone to the employers.
This is an. unwarranted simplification of ttie issue. The earlier increase in the speed limit affected only the operators of heavy goods vehicles and many. of them found that there was little or no effect on journey times. The more recent increase was general but once again it made a material difference in performance only for a small number of operators. Mainly for this reason the Wages Council have not found it possible to fit the result of raising the speed limit into the existing wages scales. Individual operators have been left to make their own arrangements. For the most part, where the speed limit has clearly, been a factor in increasing efficiency, bonus payments and similar rewards have been made.
More Authoritative Assessment
There is more than a suspicion that the drivers have had the best of the bargain. Unfortunately for Mr. Kitson's pronouncements on productivity, a far more.authoritative assessment has now been made by the Ministry of Transport. This was concerned primarily with the volume of traffic carried. It certainly shows an increase of 33 per cent. in the annual ton mileage performed by road transport between 1958 and 1962. It points out, however, that there was also a substantial rise in the number of vehicles accompanied by a marked increase in their carrying capacities. There is no indication in the Ministry survey that speed limits have had any considerable effect on the amount of traffic.
If there are more goods vehicles today than there were four or five years ago, there are naturally more drivers. The increased carrying capacity of the vehicles means that on the whole drivers are being paid at better rates irrespective of general wage increases agreed by the Wages Connell and of bonuses and other payments for special services. There is no reason why the trade unions should not continue to press for even better wages and conditions. They are not justified in alleging that either their members or the considerable number of other workers outside their ranks have not received their fair share of the prosperity of road transport. It is reasonable to wonder to what extent the workers themselves would wish to pursue a claim along these lines.
The Scottish T.U.C. may not have noticed that their two resolutions tend to cancel each other out. If a claim for higher wages is to sound plausible, it is obviously desirable to show that the industry concerned is making enough money to pay for more wages and also if possible that there is a high standard of efficiency for which the workers can claim full credit. With this picture of the road haulage industry fresh before them it seems odd that the unions should simultaneously maintain that the industry or part of it should be taken over by the State. It is even harsher to suggest that the hauliers should receive no compensation for the prosperity and efficiency with which they.have been credited, the same prosperity and efficiency for which the workers are said to deserve higher wages.