Jones-Aldington report Tuesday

FUND ONE DAY TO THE SPECIAb.committee looking into dockers' job prospects and other problems in the ports will publish its interim report on Tuesday.

This will follow its meeting on Monday afternoon to put the finishing touches to the report.

The National Joint Council for the Port Transport Industry will meet on Tuesday Mersey docks stop over jobs crisis MORE THAN 70 ships were idle at Mersey docks yesterday as the entire 10,000strong labour force struck over a manning dispute.

The dockers came out in support of 1,600 workers who have been on strike all week at one of the port's maJor cargohandling firms, A. E. Smith Coggins.

The dispute does not directly affect the entire port labour force, but Merseyside dockers feel that the employers - who are backing Smith Coggins-have taken them on over an issue of principle.

This concerns the right to clerical jobs traditionally done by registered dockers. Smith Coggins' stewards say the firm insisted on new manning arrangements which meant one docker had to take on the work of WEATHER IN ENGLAND, Wales, Northern Ireland, southern and central Scotland it will be a generally cloudy day with outbreaks of rain, which will be heavy and thundery in places.

Northern Scotland mostly dry with some bright or sunny spells.

Temperatures will be near normal.

Outlook for Sunday an 1 Monday: Some thundery showe rs. Sunny intervals chiefly in he north. Warm inland. consider the report, but the most crucial meeting is that of dockers' delegates on • Thursday.

Liverpool dockers have called a day-long strike and a special train chartered at a cost of £800 will bring men to a lobby of Transport House.

When the docks delegates last met on June 14 an angry lobby shouted strident abuse MIDLAND OLD STORAGE LINATED Depot workers take away on hearing the NIRC's jail at the delegates who called off the national docks strike on a vote of 49 to 32.

The report on the jobs crisis has been compiled by Transport and General Workers' Union secretary Jack Jones anu turmer Trans and farman Tawr MP and deputy man of the Tory Lord Aldington.

Aldington is several other registered workers.

When shop stewards refused, the firm threatened to use unregistered staff workers.

There is, however, a further fear that the manoeuvre is aimed at driving a wedge between clerical workers and the dockers.

Smith Coggins are planning to sack a number of their office workers and on. Monday 800 staff men throughout the port will go on strike in protest.

On top. of this there are merger talks between the port's four cargo-handling firms, Ocean Port Services, Port of Liverpool Stevedoring, Smith Coggins and the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company.

Clearly a major saving in such a merger would be the centralizing of accounts and paperwork in general which would lead to a large cut-back in clerical jobs. UNITED NATIONS Association of the United States has announced an agreement with its Soviet counterpart to work together on common projects and publish each other's results in an effort to seek 'common ground' on sensitive subjects. The first such "parallel statement' issued Washington this week dealt with ways of implementing the four-year treaty on the non proliferation of nuclear weapons. Plans for further studies on protecting the environment and on regional collective security arrangements were also announced.

EQUITY-the actors' trade union -yesterday appeared before the National Industrial Relations Court on its application for a post-entry, closed shop agreement covering the whole of live' theatre. The court referred the union's application to the Commission on Industrial Relations.

JUry chairchairman of the Port of London Authority and chairman of the banking group, National and Grindlays.

When he took over the PLA a year ago, Aldington thought the rationalization process was moving too slowly; he has increased the number of redundancies from a proposed 1,200 also this year to 2,000.

The Liverpool dockers, too, could face a jobs crisis. Ocean Port Services, controlled by the giant Ocean Steamship Company is pulling its Far East trade out of Liverpool and switching it to Southampton's container depot.

OPS have already asked to transfer 600 of its 1,250 labour force to the port's temporary unattached register.

With these redundancies on the horızon, some dockers fear that the Smith Coggins move is an attempt to split the two sections by suggesting dockers are further jeopardizing stail Jobs.

At a mass meeting at Liverpool Pier Head chairman of the shop stewards committee, Jimmy Symes, accused the firm of provoking the spread of the dispute.

He told 4,000 port workers: 'We will recommend a return to work when we get complete satisfaction' Midland MIDLAND and Barclays yesterday followed the earlier lead of National Westminster when they raised their 'base rates' by 1 per cent to 7 per cent. It is a move which automatically raises the cost of overdrafts. Lloyds, the last of the Big Four seem certain to follow with a similar move. The cheapest overdraft rate for the most reliable industrial concern is bound to rise to 8 per cent. Ordinary borrowers will have to pay 10 or ll per cent for the privilege of a bank loan.

A NEW MOVE was being made in London yesterday to end the three-week white-collar workers' strike in the South Wales tinplate industry. Department of Employment conciliation officers were meeting British Steel Corporation officials and representatives of the Association Clerical, Technical and Supervisory Staff. The talks come soon after the decision of 1,000 white-collar employees at the Ebbw Vale works to join the 1,300 already on strike at west Wales tinplate plants. • See Monday's Worker: for special article. issued THE NATIONAL Industrial Relations Court yesterday ordered the arrest of five London dockers accused of 'intentionally' defying injunctions to end their blacking of the Midland Cold Storage Company's Hackney depot.

Making the order President Sir John Donaldson said the Port of London's joint shop stewards secretary Bernard Steer had made it quite clear he had no intention of obeying court's orders.

He added that Steer was 'scarcely more enthusiastic for the High Court than for the Industrial Court'.

Donaldson said it was not first time someone had told press and the public that court's orders would not be Obeyed, but gone onto observe aharad - La them scrupulously.

'What matters is whether or not this court's orders meet with compliance. That is what the present application is about' The five men were Bernard Steer, Victor Turner, Anthony Merrick, Derek Watkins and Cornelius Clancy.

Charges against two other dockers, Ronald and Edward Hedges, were dismissed on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence of their having broken the NIRC's Giving judgement Donaldson said the court had no alternative but to resort to 'physical restraint' on the five dockers.

'The purpose of this Court is to promote good industrial relations and none of us imagines for one moment that the making of committal orders will achieve this result; he said.

'But the issue is far greater even than good industral relations. The public at large through a properly-elected parliament has set up the industrial court. It has given this court the power and the duty of protecting the rights, of all workers, unions and employers in accordance with law.

What was at stake was whether the dockers were to be allowed to opt-out of the rule of law.

'Can they pick and choose, relying upon it for the protection of their homes and families, but rejecting it when, even temporarily, it obstructs their industrial objectives, he asked.

'It is a very simple issue, but vastly important for our whole way of life is based on acceptance of law?

In the court's view there was ample evidence of breach of its ban in the case of and Cornelius Clancy. Derek to the uttering of threats referred to in the affidavit of private investigator Gary Murray.

There had been similar evidence against Tony Merrick and Cornelius Clancy.

While there was no evidence that either Vic Turner or Bernie Steer personally uttered threats vhen they visited the picket line the court accepted the submission of counsel for Midland Cold Storage that leaflets making threats were issued with the authority and on behalf of the two men. Turner was chairman and Steers secretary of the joint shop stewards' committee, said.

The breaches that had taken place were serious and deliberately committed, quite literally in contempt of the court. The court had no reason to believe that Turner, Watkins, Merrick, Clancy or Steer were willing to abide by the truce it had ordered. They had rejected the constitutional processes of their own unions and the joint negotiating machinery of their own industry.

Each member of the court had reached this conclusion with regret, Donaldson claimed.

The lay judges party to his order were Ray Boyfield, once an official of the TUC, and Herman Roberts, former industrial correspondent of the 'Birmingham Post'.