The granddaddy of them all
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THERE ARE FEW sets of initials more familiar to everyone than TGWU or, as frequently shortened, the T and G. if trades unions collectively are an Estate of the Realm, standing alongside the Church, the Houses of Parliament and the Press, then the T and G, whether we hate it, love it, or tolerate it, is a major factor in the administration of affairs, more durable than any British government and often, I suspect, a little contemptuous of politicians of all parties.
The Union came about as a "grand amalgamation" of fourteen unions with a combined membership of 350,000 in 1922. A majority of the founding members were transport oriented — Watermen and Bargemen, Carters and Lorrymen, Dockers and Fishermen. Today, the amalgamation includes some 80 unions with a total membership exceeding two millions.
The prospectus for the original amalgamation, drawn up over 60 years ago, stressed the potential benefits — pooled financial resources, more effective negotiating strength, co-operation of the rank and file in port, waterway, road transport and factory, the organisation of all workers in the industries covered, administrative, clerical and manual.
Said the first manifesto: "It is the creation of a new machine. It will ultimately not only talk of wages, but exercise power and control. Nothing can prevent it — only two things can hinder it, vested interest and apathy."
All this, and more, over the signatures of chairman Harry Gosling and secretary Ernes Bevin, carried the day, probably because of the genius of Ernie Bevin in devising a workable constitution giving lay members the power to make policy through elected representatives with election based partly on a geographical basis and partly reflecting the trade or industry in which they work.
Without this dual representa tion system co-ordination of the work of the regional membership and the 12 separate trade groups would be more difficult, if not impossible. It eliminated the danger of weakness at the centre and the threat of numerically strong groups dominating smaller groups within the Union.
The commercial services trade group, with Jack Ashwell as national secretary, has about 230,000 members, mostly drivers. Members in the own-account sector are six times more numerous than in the field of "professional" road haulage, which illustrates how diffuse is the influence of the TGWU in road haulage nationally.
The national secretary for passenger transport, Bill Morris, is the principal voice of busmen, numbering some 140,000. Bill Morris recently succeeded Larry Smith, on Larry's promotion to -the number three position (executive secretary) in the Union's hierarchy.
Over the years I have met several of the top transport brass ofthe TGWU from Bert Beck, Ken Jackson and Jack Ashwell — whom I first met when he ran the road haulage function at Hull — to Jack Jones, whose retirement opened the way for Mostyn Evans to become general secretary. The Union has never been short of practised, effective, public speakers, some with distinct oratorical gifts, like Alex Kitson and Frank Cousins.
In relation to the load of responsibility borne by the senior paid officials and the TGWU has over 500 full-time officers — the miracle is how they combine their organising and negotiating duties with the mountain of administrative work they somehow manage to shoulder.
If Jack Ashwell is typical, as I suspect he is, he reckons to spend 85 per cent of his time away from the office at meetings of all kinds ranging from giving evidence to Parliamentary Select Committees to handling pay negotiations with major oil com panies and attendance at international conferences.
Probably the short answer to explain what makes union officers tick is that they love their work. Without the inspiration which comes most usually from earlier experience in industry, so that officers "know where the shoe pinches", I doubt if many would have the stamina to carry on.
For if the job has periods of excitement, including exposure to the media, it surely involves much endless drudgery with protracted negotiating sessions and intense emotional pressures.
I asked Jack Ashwell if he thought his road haulage members would respond to Government calls for pay moderation in the next round. He said this was unlikely against the background of higher gas, electricity and phone charges and other rises in living costs.
"Many long-distance drivers today are on the phone so that the chaps can speak to their wives away from home. I've yet to hear of an employer who meets even a part of the bill."
In the light of TGWU aspirations for a five-day 35-hour week you might think that lorry drivers, working mostly much longer hours, would face difficulties within the Union. Jack suggested that the trend was now strongly in favour of higher basic rates for drivers with less need for overtime to make up a reasonable wage.
"Much of the problem in road haulage is self-generated. If employers had seen things in a more sensible light years ago the overtime syndrome would not have occurred."
We ranged through some of the current controversies in the industry. On training, Jack (who is a member of the Board) said the RHA wanted to get out of the RTITB. "If that happens there will be very little professional training done in road haulage." He thinks transport managers are always in the front line for criticism and they deserve mL better support from their co panies and an increasingly p fessional industry supported adequate training courses.
The TGWU insistence on a negotiations to decide pay cconditions came about partly cause of the wish to associ the membership with pay de but also because, with natio negotiations, "you can't people at area level to accept national recommendation". T goes some way to explain failure of proposals to set u national liaison committee vl the RHA.
The TGWU, says Jack, knc that some road-haulage f ployers are already cutting rates, as in previous trE slumps. He is glad that the licence requirement preve employers from so reac persuading drivers to becc "owner"-drivers. In internatic work this is seen as a blat transfer of employer respom lities to the driver, often v serious commercial penaltie
The International Transj Workers' Federation, to wl the TGWU is federated, has
3t in Miami and Jack Ashwell, lo attended, says the ITF is to m-up its ideas on assistance to -ry drivers breaking down or iolved in accidents abroad — t only in the EEC. TGWU ?.mbers would be given the one numbers of trades unions other parties abroad who uld furnish practical help, inding language assistance.
Incidentally, despite the pularity of sleeper cabs, the ;WU is still vehemently opsed to them because they turn vers into "gipsies" and enurage breaches of mileage d hours laws.
Mere are obviously serious your relations implications in abolition of the 1938 Act vering Wages Councils which, ck reminded me, covered ,n-account operators under rt Four. With uncertainty as to continuance of the Schedule provisions of the 1975 Em)yment Protection Act he nks politicians have dealt a )1ish blow to both sides.
'When we had facilities to e employers to formal proceres as we did with the NFC der Schedule 11 and milk em;Niers under the 1938 Act, then did so. If we have no re..irse to a hearing then the only 3rnative would be to strike. shall certainly tackle any emlyer who does not comply :h fair wages."
)icketing rules have still to be 'rifled. Jack Ashwell says iny road hauliers supported the picketing of customer firms because it retained their traffic. Defining the place of work of lorry drivers was a ticklish problem, "We shan't picket Ml!"
The lorry driver trade union market is served by a number of bodies. USDAW, for. example, has a larger road-transport membership than URTU and is number two to the TGWU in the milk industry, with joint negotiations. There are no cases in road transport where the TGWU is the junior partner in joint negotiations.
The TGWU position on tachographs may change, but so far there has been no blanket acceptance for the instrument to be used and any cases brought to the attention of headquarters lead to a ban. The ultimate payment for using tachos has been prejudiced, in Ashwell's view, by a few employers boasting two years ago that £10 to £15 would be worthwhile to exceed 281 miles.
Jack Ashwell was studying the EEC's 543/69 when I met him and he pointed out that the prerogative it gives for variations in rest periods lies with employees, hence changes benefiting employers will not be conceded for nothing. He says some employers pay on vehicle earnings, operating illegally to boost earnings at times.
Enforcement of the lorry laws in the EEC he regards as a farce — the last published report on practices was in 1976. He cannot think tachographs to be anything other than a "cowboy's charter", for an official check of discs when only two days are carried would not reveal rest periods over a seven-day period.
The likelihood of a statutory pay freeze does not bother full time professionals like Jack Ashwell. "In the last pay freezes we looked for loopholes to get round them." He quoted Frank Cousins who had said that if no negotiations are possible on pay then negotiations follow on other conditions.
It is a simplistic approach to trades unions to imagine that a courageous officer could change attitudes to a pay demand,. through fear of the effects of rampant inflation, for example.
TGWU officers, says Jack Ashwell, would give advice but if that is rejected and a claim pursued without success officers would be unwise to boast "I told you so." Clearly the power lies with the troops, who know that officers are their servants, not masters. Bill Morris, the national secretary for passenger transport, is a Jamaican, resident in Britain for 26 years, with union service
in the Midlands,latter
ly at Northampton, in United Counties territory. He reminded me that his section of membership, now 140,000, was 240,000 in 1960. He speaks for an industry which feels sorely assailed by the new Transport Act with the anticipated entry of probably anti-trade union operators in stage carriage and express travel. He sees this trend as a disaster for the industry akin to developments in the United States twenty years ago which are now having to be reversed at huge expense.
Redundancy of busmen, currently around 100 a week, is affecting staff morale. Busmen ask "Is there a viable future? Will NBC survive?" Many members leave for more secure jobs.
Bill Morris thinks the Traffic CommisSioners will sympathise with Government philosophies of competitive transport. The Union is mounting a campaign to remind everyone of the relatively low level of subsidies to public transport on buses in the UK compared with Europe.
Every GLC member is to be asked where he stands on public transport. "Our efforts will be to raise the 'consciousness level' of the general public about the effects of Government policies because we see our role not only as employees in transport but as serving the community at large."
Though busmen on average earn £75 to £80 including overtime, Morris points out that there is an army of staff behind the drivers who are paid less than any comparable section in municipal employment. Many of the industry's problems, he thinks, stem from low pay, leading to recruitment problems and inadequate public service.
But Bill Morris says that the recent municipal settlement is worth 20 per cent overall, and London Transport's similar settlement should go some way to maintaining the living standards which trade union officers exist to safeguard. It would be out of character for road haulage membership to scale down their demands to what many would say the industry can afford.
George Walden, the TGWU district officer whom Bill Morris succeeded at Northampton, won the OBE recently. I hinted that a similar award might come to Bill Morris. "Serving my members well is all the reward I seek."
In a selfish materialistic world, trades unions reflect society as it is. With an income of over £20m a year the TGWU should arguably spend more than £250,000 on educating its members. To help lorry drivers with accommodation problems it is considering investing a token £100,000 or so in an ambitious private venture, costing millions, for security parks with hostel accommodation.
The instinct of trades unions, and the TGWU, is to preserve jobs in a harsh economic climate, so productivity schemes may get short shrift however necessary for national salvation.
With a membership loss of some 23,000 in the April-June period it is an open question whether members who can profit from productivity schemes will wish to hasten, at least in the short run, the loss of more members of their "grand amalgamation".