RAIL STRIKE AVERTED

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27226, 18 December 1953, Page 11

RAIL STRIKE AVERTED

Wage Increases Promised (N.Z. Press Association —Copyright) (Rec. 7 p.m.) LONDON, December 17. The threatened strike by British railway workers has been averted. Mr W. J. P. Webber, general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staff Association, said last night: “We are very happy to say that a settlement has been reached with all four parties (the Transport Commission, the National Union of Railwaymen, the Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen, and the Salaried Staff Association).”

The strike was to have started at midnight on Sunday. The announcement came after four days of national tension in which it was feared that there would be a holdup of Christmas passenger and goods traffic.

It was a triumph for the Minister of 1 Labour (Sir Walter Monckton), who . succeeded in bringing the parties to the dispute together yesterday. The parties conferred several times and had their longest meeting last night. The unions decided to cancel their strike plans immediately they received a firm promise of all-round pay rises from the Transport Commission, which controls the State-owned railways, Mr Webber said. They had also received an assurance that the whole salary structure would be reviewed. Negotiations on Wages The secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen (Mr J. Campbell) said that the least that would be accepted would be a minimum of 7s a week for the lowest-paid man in the service. That would be the basis from which the union would begin negotiations with the commission, which had said it was prepared to examine with the unions their whole wages structure. This would be exhaustive. Its purpose would be to correct anomalies and give added incentive, including differentials in desirable cases, and to investigate all. standard rates of pay. The unions had agreed to confer with the commission to evolve ways of increasing the efficiency of the railways. The talks will be held during the next two jnonths. Mr Campbell added: “It is clear that the Transport Commission is going to make an exhaustive examination of the whole wages structure and we are hoping that, as a consequence of our negotiations, not only within the next few months, but during the complete period that is required to reconstruct the wages basis, we will be able to place railwaymen on a basis comparable with at least the average in industry.” He said the period of two months mentioned by the commission would date from December 4, the date of the Railway Tribunal award (which gave a rise of 4s. described by railwayn#en as “disgustingly low”). He said the commission had said that only a 5 per cent, increase, including the 4s of the ! award, would cost roughly £13,000,000. : The minimum of 7s sought by the N.U.R. would be just under 6 per cent. 1 Mr Campbell said he thought the , settlement was going to cost the com- • mission a lot more than £13.000,000 because there would be an interim in- ' crease and then there would be a re- ! construction of the wage structure in the next few months.

Originally, the three rail unions sought a flat increase of 15 per cent, on wage rates for all workers. The commission rejected this and the Tribunal, on appeal, gave a rise of 4s. The commission agreed to pay this, but the unions rejected it unanimously. In subsequent talks, the three unions split. Last week the N.U.R.. threatened the strike while the two other unions decided to continue talks. Migration from Palestine.—Nearly 2000 of 3000 Jews who have migrated from Britain to Palestine since 1946 have moved to other countries because of the shortage of work and low living standards. A total of 38.000 Jews have left. —Jerusalem, December 16.