From Stan Mills
The following article appeared as an editorial item in the December 3lst issue of the Railway Reviews-
'The government appears to be determined to force the unions to inform the incomes board about applications for increases in pay. Whilst this need not be the death blow to free wage claims, or destructive of collective bargaining, it will cause claims to be delayed, There may be some who would like to stop collective bargaining altogether, If compulsory checking of claims is imposed and the decision to accept, or reject, or modify wage claims is transferred to a Government body then the old style collective bargaining procedure will be radically altered. Employers will not mind being instructed not to pay the full claims,
But in practise will it really matter? Employers, particularly in some areas and industries, have for years negotiated local agreements, which have to # large extent made nonsense of national agreements. The wage-drift has been caused by this method of retaining and gaining scarce labour. It will go on so long as there is full employment. The trade unions have been compelled to play ball with their members because this has been the most effective way of increasing take~home-~pay. The whole wages structure is twisted by incentive schemes of one sort or another. ‘So how can the incomes board, or the government, expect to create order in this situation, whatever legislation is passed?
We still live in a society where a worker can refuse to work if his pay and conditions are not satisfactory, The trade unions movement will fight to retain this right. Democrats will fight to keep this right. If we lose we shall have a fascist set up, in which wages and conditions of service are imposed “enforced and the working class will be held in a vice operated by the state. But the question of wages and conditions is inextricably bound up with prices. It is also relevant to link it with profits and dividends. Drastic control of wages and conditions without control of prices will lead to a fall in the standard of living of the working class, What is more, it will lead to a rise in the wealth of the already rich.... If legislation is forced onto the trade unions on wages and conditions it must be equally forced onto the capitalist class to prevent their gaining advant~ ageSe Profits and dividends must also be vetted. Rises in profits and dividends this year have exceeded any of the wa e rises, To a socialist government this ought to be impermiss ble,
The trade union movement will not willingly give up their arms even to a Labour government unless the profiteers and dividend drawers are drastic~ ally controlled. If that happens, what price capitalism? How can capitalisn, the so-called free enterprise system, work in these circumstances, I+ could mean the policy will lead to a greater step forward to socialisation of our economy. Yet one extra turn of the screw could produce a fascist system, It is a situation freaght with great dangers, even if there are possibilities that it could turn out to be a movement towards socialism,