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RHA in despair at new docks proposals
Page 21
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by CM reporter DRIVEN "almost to despair" by the Department of Employ ment's latest consultative document on dockwork, the Road Haulage Association has sent a strongly-worded memorandum to the Secretary of State on the subject.
The Minister has been told that the proposals contained in the consultative document would increase costs, decrease efficiency and would be disastrous for the country in the present circumstances.
Instead of extending the area and range of what is claimed exclusively as clockwork, the RHA wants the Secretary of State to revise the "rigid and anomalous" dockworkers' employment scheme as a first step toward complete abolition.
Drawing attention to the privileged position of the registered dockworker and to his virtual freedom from dismissal, guaranteed payment, whether working or not and his exemption from the normal employer/employee discipline procedure, the Association has reminded the Minister that it has tried to persuade successive Governments to abandon the scheme.
It is unnecessarily expensive, imposes a levy on employers and has led to restrictive practices which seriously reduce productivity in the scheme ports, says the RHA.
Without giving any reasons, the latest document has rejected the Association's argument in favour of abandoning the scheme and has been received by the RHA almost with despair. Moreover, the latest proposals seek to extend the scheme to ports hitherto outside its scope further hazarding productivity at those places.
No justification
This is despite the fact that there is no justification for allocating to dock workers activities which have always been traditionally carried out by hauliers such as consolidating loads for domestic or overseas carriage. A claim by dockers that because technical developments at ports have reduced intermediate handling they should be found alternative work cannot be justified, says the memorandum.
Proof of the argument has been the expansion of the hitherto non-scheme ports which have been able to provide economic and efficient services in contrast to the poor facilities and industrial relations at scheme ports. The proposed new definition of "port transport work" now goes considerably beyond what was previously considered to be dockers' work.
A haulier's depot within five miles of a roll-on roll-off ferry port might have to operate the work of loading or unloading vehicles as "port transport work" while a similar depot outside the five-mile limit would not.