Engineer clerks drop pay claims

Workers Press no. 644, 22 December 1971 · scan page 5

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ENGINEERING employers were rubbing their hands yesterday over clerical unions' decision to drop all national claims for across-the-board pay rises.

The decision-affecting about 400,000 workers all told—-fits neatly into the employers' strategy for taking on its labour force in small groups plant by plant.

More immediately, it takes he heat of the Engineering Employers' Federation for new minimum rates for clerks of £18 for men and £15.50 for women.

Besides these minimum-rate demands-amounting to '£2.50 and £2.35, respectively-the claim, submitted three months ago, asked for a general pay rise for workers who did not receive one last year.

Leaders of the clerical and administrative, transport and general and general and municipal workers' unions will now instruct their 250,000 members to submit similar claims at plant level on the expiry of current agreements.

Manual union leaders are moving in a similar direction after the rejection of their national pay claim.

And following the breakdown of talks aimed at replacing the 1922 York procedure agreement, they are attempting to set up plant-by-plant arrangements in this sphere also.

The employers are delighted with these developments.

Earlier this year the technical and supervisory section of the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers terminated national pay bargaining with both the engineering and shipbuilding employers.

The EEF now openly claims that it has held down draughtsmen's pay as a result.

RENT increases imposed under the new Housing Bill will be 'the last straw' for council tenants, Labour 'left' MP Frank Allaun told a Commons committee yesterday. Tory MPs and councillors in marginal seats were going to be 'booted out' if the Bill went ahead, added Allaun.

LATE NEW DRAUGHTSMEN at Parsons, the électrical engineers of Heaton, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, have decided to fight company plans to make. 900 employees redundant by June.

With the threat of an additional 600 redundancies, the draughtsmen have said that they will not negotiate with management over the sackings and are going ahead with a plan to begin four-day-a-wéek working in the factory that supplies the electrical power industre is also talk amone stewards to demand that the firm stop contracting work out to smaller engineering shops on Tynéside. PHONEY PHOTOS