Mr. Brown's incomes policy has taken another. hard.knock following from gains made by draughtsmen employed by the Shipbuilding Employers! Federation, who are to get pay increases of up to 12%, under an agreement reached between the employers and the Draughtsmen's and Allied Technicians Association. 2,000 shipbuilding draughtsmen have recently taken part in a 24 hour strike, and under the direction of their union, men in four yards have staged a total stoppage. largely as « result of these events, the Minister of Labour, Mr. Gunter, set up = Court of Inquiry, and the new wage settlement follows the publication of its reporte
Under the new agreement, the employers accept the minimum wage~forage scale claimed by the union, This will give minimum rates ranging from £15 a week at 21 to £22.10.0. a week for those aged 30 and overe ‘racers will receive from £6 at 16 to £12.15.0. at 25. london area rates for all grades are £1 a week higher. The scales will operate from July 26. The employers have also agreed that in applying the new scale all draughtsmen will receive a general increase ranging from 10/= a week to £1.
The union has made some concessions however, It has promised to end its practice of unilaterally announcing new minimum scales without negotiations. The employers and perhaps Mr, Brown as well, also expect it to discontinue its policy of negotiating increases at local level, although there is a cleuse in the agreement providing exceptions to this rule.
The lessons from this gain are obvious. Mr. Gunter's thunderings and Mr. Brown's pleas and threats only seem to be effective against those workers who are weakly organised, or who receive inadequate backing from their trade union leaders, Against the strongly organised and determined, these Cabinet Ministers tend to appear as paper tigers,