Bosses still press Devlin Phase Two Crucial stage in docks pay talks

employers and union officials.

• Liverpool yesterday nion negotiators again re sumed talks on an interim settlement lor the ports 10,500 dockers—a settle ment designed to pave the way for the Devlin "modernization' scheme's second phase.

hey are to report bac o stewards on Mondas Inion mployer working aside reported back to London's enclosed docks modernization com mites of intensive and-atiations.

draft pastops for phase ted pay and conditions.

Real issue

Everyone knows that the real issue not *are to be whether dockers chained to the redundancies, speed-up and tighter disciline demanded by che em. ployers. In a word, The single-minded mination with ployers are highlights the got docks leadership in crisis both ports.

Over the Liverpool, Londo dockers in and other ports have shown their combativity in a whole series of actions over cargo awards and piece-work rates.

Pay disputes in Dundee and Hull are united fight against notorious Devlin scheme.

Negotiate

Despite their rejection of the Merseyside employers proposals at the beginning of his week, however, the port' tewards decided on Wedne day to forgo involving the rank and file in industrial action and return to the negodeprive dockers of their most important lever for pushing Round for the mination or The situation mobility labon" Tuesday md Wednes. day of this week, Workers' Press kind which dockers being led.

His articles should be carefully studied.

We say:

Call a halt to the retreat Call a halt to now! now! • For a united fight of all ports against it the Devlin scheme Phase Two!

Nationaliz who worontolock, ductivity and the Confederation of British Industry.

This cannot be so.

If pay legislation and equal pay broke surface at Brighton and Portsmouth it is because these are now burning questions for millions of workers.

Circulated at the beginning of the week, Mrs. Castle's equal-pay document sticks fast to her Brighton line that equal pay can not be implemented before the end of 1975.

This, of course, is not 'a reasonable period of five years' frighton, but just claimed at A central feature of the proposals is clearly to be the use of job-evaluation studies to decide whether the work done by women justifies equal payment by being 'of equal value'.

Dispute about this would be enmeshed in a legal framework comprising industrial tribunals and courts spread over the country.

The TUC's reply to Mrs. B.B.C. UNION CONTINUES GUERRILLA ASSOCIATION of Broadcasting Staffs members at the BBC are to press their pay claim by continuing lightning strikes and an overtime ban.

Mr Tom Rhys, ABS general secretary, told a 3,000-strong Hammersmith meeting on Thursday:

'Such action gave the BBC no time to organize strikebusting measures.

'It might not be a nice gentlemanly way to fight, but it is the only way to fight.' The meeting decided to take further action if there was any more victimization.

Two crews were suspended during Thursday when ABS members stopped work at 5.30 p.m.

Two programmes, '24 Hours' and "London Nationwide', were cancelled.

Mr Rhys felt that if the suspended workers were not reinstated 'this will strengthen the presure for a total strike' ABS members expressed anger at TV managing director Mr Hugh Wheldon's directive that staff who withdrew their labour would be suspended. Miners comment on pit YORKSHIRE miners in- HIRE miners involved in the growing strike n the ornwino strike throughout the coalfields have made the following comments in interviews with the Workers' Press:

Fred Higgins (Bentley Colliery) : • This seems an unimportant issue, but it has done something the leaders haven't done. We should not return until all questions are settled —pit closures, third day-wage structure, rents dispute, complete change of the negotiating machinery to allow reports back to local branches before all major y decisions.

Frank McCabe (Brodsworth Colliery).: • Surface hours are only the tip of the iceberg. Every category of mineworker has a wages problem. The men have supported this strike as a way of hitting out at the NCB on all the issues.

The Yorkshire officials thought the hours issue would be won without a strike — a victory for the negotiating machinery. But the NCB dug in because it would open the floodgates for workers in all nationalized 9 Tom Henderson Colliery) :

Castle is due to be published in about a month's time, after it has consulted the executives of all its member unions.

Compulsion

It is believed that far from rejecting the DEP's job-evaluation proposals, TUC leaders are to demand that compulsion be applied here!

In this they will no doubt have the full backing of engineering union leaders, who were meeting the employers Thursday to review the results of the job-evaluation working party on women's wages set up as part of last year's engineering pay deals.

There are big dangers for women workers ahead here.

At roughly the same time as the TUC leaders are due to publish their collective reply on equal pay, Mrs. Castle is due to begin consultations both with them and with the CBI about the government's future wage restraint plans. AT; ».. %.

• THE A18. strike to their delegates • Hours are not the real issue. The real issue for a national strike is wages. Besides surfacemen's hours, we should demand: £17 basic for surfacemen, $20 underground, £30 for contractors guaranteed minimum and a 35-hour week as the answer to redundancy.

Dave Robinson, president of St John's NUM branch, Normanton : • Many miners are dissatisfied with the National Executive. Nothing has been done on these hours. I think every branch should mandate POLICE clashed with strikers outside the BSR Ltd. AEF CRAFISMINS THe WORs GFT to their delegates to say they've no confidence in the they've no confidence NEC on this. The strike must continue because if we can't win 20 minutes we › can't win anything.

Peter Balderson, underground development worker at Glasshoughton pit : • We should be going like the dustmen and demanding a minimum of £5 increase. Miners will give massive support on this.

We wouldn't have to go begging to the Coal Board for a 20-minute thing. They would be out like a bullet. The bigger the strike the more chance it has of y winning.

RANK Si.

WHO. HE WILL NOT SHOP STEWARDS Placard-bearing Rank Precision workers outside the plush Royal Lancaster Hotel in London's Bayswater to lobby company's shareholders. Press correspondent