Chronicle
| Published date | 01 March 1965 |
| Date | 01 March 1965 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.1965.tb00890.x |
| Author | Robert F. Banks |
Chronicle
September
-
December
1964
SEPTEMBER
Dockers’
pay
claim
September
3.
A
dockers’ delegate conference rejected the port
employers’ pay offer and decided to ask the executives of
the four dockers’ unions for permission to use industrial action
in pursuit of their claim for a pay increase of
25s.
per week for
time workers and
5
per cent for piece workers. The employers
had offered weekly increases of
I
2s.
6d. for time workers and
34
per cent for piece woskers. In addition, they proposed to
increase fall-back pay from
L7
16s. gd. to
Lg
per week, but
this offer was contingent on the unions agreeing to discuss
ways of ending the anomalies in pay and working conditions
in the ports, including talks on a scheme to end the casual
system of dock employment.
October
7.
A
dockers’ delegate conference rejected a revised pay
offer and instructed their leaders to continue negotiations
with the port employers to obtain further concessions. The
port employers refused to increase their original pay offer, but
they were prepared to consider it as an interim settlement to
be followed by
a
review of the ‘basic structure’ of the industry
involving discussions on
a
wide range of subjects relating to
pay and conditions of work. More than
20,000
dockers
employed in Britain’s major ports came out on
a
one-day
unofficial strike in support of their original pay claim.
October
20.
The port employers refused to improve their pay
proposals, but they did offer an additional increase to the
3.4
per cent of the dock labour force earning less than
LIZ
per week. Representatives of the dockers’ unions rejected
this offer and gave the employers notice of their decision to
terminate their national agreement in four weeks, to be
followed by
a
further fortnight’s notice of intention to strike.
October
21.
Mr Ray Gunter, Minister of Labour, intervened in
the docks dispute. He had discussions with representatives
of both the unions and the employers.
October
27.
The Minister of Labour announced that a committee
of inquiry would be set up to consider the docks dispute. The
committee would immediately confine
its
attention to the pay
deadlock, then it would move on to examine the much
broader problems of dock labour relations such as the system
ofcasual employment, fringe benefits, and restrictive practices.
October
29.
Lord Devlin was appointed chairman of the com-
mittee of inquiry. Other members were Mr H.
A.
Clegg,
Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford; Mr
J.
A.
Scamp, per-
sonnel director of the General Electric Company; and Mr
Sid Ford, president of the National Union of Mineworkers.
95
G
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