British Unions Will Soon Seek Increases In Pay

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28420, 29 October 1957, Page 9

British Unions Will Soon Seek Increases In Pay

(Special Correspondent

(jec. 8 pm. • LONDON. Oct. 28. ] In spite of all Government jjarnmgs about Britain's economic’ position and its emphasis that j jjrther wage increases can only J Itfsen confidence in the stability' o f sterling, trade unionists have! gimounced that they are goingj ahead with claims for further ris es and shorter hours. They are claiming on behalf of some five million men—railwaymen. miners, engineers, shipbuilders. builders, boot and shoe makers, busmen, furniture makers |‘ and clothing workers. The . police Federation is also seeking a rise for 70.000 policemen. The decisive point in some of the negotiations, notably those of the railwaymen, will not be reachZed until early next year. Parn

jticular attention will be paid' to the outcome of the demands by the railwaymen and miners. I iwho are working for nationalised! I industries. The Government is : a major employer and the question which is uppermost in the, public's mind is whether the ; Government. in view of recent • statements by leading Ministers, means business about wage re- ; straint. It is plain that neither the Government forecasts of what would happen if wages rise without an accompanying increase in productivity nor its recent fiscal actions have cut any ice with the unions. For instance, Sir Richard Coppock, of the Building Workers’ Federation, said that threepence of the eightpennv increase claimed in the hourly rate is intended to compensate for the rise in the cost of living, which, he said, was likely to rise because of the seven per cent, bank rate as well as the Rent Act. The claim by busmen appears to many people to be a case of union rivalry. London busmen receive 30s a week more than provincial busmen. Recently the provincial men were awarded an increase of Ils a week and the Londoners are said to be aggrieved because their differential has been reduced. They are now seeking an extra 25s a week, including 19s 6d to restore the differential. This claim is yet to be heard, but already the provincial men have decided ito meet in November to consider I applying for more money to main- ' tain or increase their present | relativity with London. ■ "This.” declares the "Manchester Guardian.” “is not wage | negotiation. It is the naked use of ’ power to force bus fares higher and higher in the most selfish iof group interests.” Among the reasons given for (increase for railwaymen are the advance in the cost of living ; since the last pay rise, a further prospective advance and the fact that wages in other industries ;are higher. i The reasons given in other i industries are that unionists could not be asked to starve while exjcessive profits are being made 1 and in many instances were escaping taxation. The whole position will be 1 watched closely during the comimg weeks. Although various Ministers have recently declared that the Government seeks no "showdown” with the unions, many people are beginning to feel it will either be forced on; the Cabinet or the Government i will "back down.” It has al few weeks in which, as the I "Daily Telegraph” comments, to 1 "brace itself.”