Concessions Cause Drafting Problems
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PROBLEMS arising out of two concessions agreed by the Road Haulage Wages Conned (The Commercial Motor, October 9) were discussed on Wednesday by the national executive committee of the Road Haulage Association. The Wages Council agreed that a man who worked on a customary holiday should be given a day off in lieu with pay, as well as double pay for working on the holiday.
There are differences between customary holidays in England and Scotland, and other problems have arisen .in connection with the concession. The great difficulty is to find a precise form of words that will express the Wages Council's decision, and no more. This applies also to the agreement in principle that night work, for which an extra 8d. an hour is paid, should begin at 7 p.m. instead of 9 p.m„ and extenduntil 6 a.m. Here the main problem is to define a night worker.
The national executive committee were told that the public relations committee had approved of the continuance of advertising in trade journals next year, but wished for information on the availability of funds.
Rate-cutting by British Railways was another matter on the agenda.
The Association's national licensing committee last week decided to ask areas for their views on the licensing system and to suggest improvements. The question whether all farmers should be compelled to hold C licences is one of the matters to be considered.
At a meeting of the national longdistance hauliers' committee, last week, the results of discussions with the Admiralty on haulage contracts were reported. It was stated that the Admiralty had agreed to modify their conditions of carriage to make them less onerous to the haulier, and to notify the operator when the value of a consignment exceeded £800 a ton.
NEGOTIATION MACHINERY IN DANGER UNLESS there were adherence to
'4.-/ national agreements by both employers and employees, the basis of national negotiation would quickly be destroyed. This statement was made last week by a spokesman of the Federation of Municipal Passenger TransPort Employers, when commenting on the wide publicity given to the expulsion of Coventry from the Federation (The Commercial Motor, November 20).
The issue between the Federation and Coventry Corporation did not concern the merits or otherwise of paying safedriving awards, said the spokesman. It concerned the non-adherence to decisions of the national council of the Federation.
air. Wilfred Spencer, chairman of Coventry Transport Committee, was drawing a red herring .across the issue when he referred to safe-driving payments being made by other undertakings, added the spokesman.