WHO IS JACK JONES TALKING WITHP

A member of the JonesAldington inquiry into the jobs crisis in the ports has launched a sideswipe against the 1947 Dock Labour Schemewhich gives dockers partial statutory jobguarantee-on the eve of publication of the inquiry report.

Sir Humphrey Browne is chairman of the British Transport Docks Board, which controls 19 ports, including Southampton, Hull, Immingham, Newport and Port Talbot.

In an interview with the BTDB magazine Docks', he attacks 'irresponsible' actions by scheme-registered dockers and calls for his board to be given more control over them. He claims such control might help eliminate many of the problems plaguing the ports.

Our picture shows Jack Jones, Transport and General Workers' Union secretary and joint chairman of the jobs inquiry, at one of its opening sessions.

The man next to him is Lord Aldington, who besides being co-chairman of the inquiry, chairman of the Port of London Authority and a former banker, is an ex-chairman of the Tory Party.

Browne's magazine interview, however, is given in a spirit pretty far removed from the friendly atmosphere these three gentlemen mustered for the camera. It casts considerable doubt on the basis.

of the agreement they apparently reached during later sessions of the inquiry.

The BTDB chairman says he would like to see his board take over as sole employer of dock labour at all its port je tegral part of port operation, he explains. Its separation from other aspects is bound to cause problems.

Says Browne: *Basically I don't like monopolies, but to have a monopoly of cargohandling is not really different from being in sole charge of the other operations at the port."

The idea of bringing registered dockers under the same employment umbrella as BTDB staff would clearly represent a major departure from the 1947 Scheme, giving the board hire-and-fire powers throughout.

(The board itself has 10,874 employees, 3,097 of them registered dockers. But if implemented Browne's scheme would presumably apply also to the much larger number of dockers attached to private stevedoring firms operating in BTDB ports.)

Browne makes two significant comments in his 'Docks" interview on the thinking behind his proposal: 1 'The port authority should maké the maximum use of its assets instead of allowing stevedoring companies to use those assets free of charge, and 2 I believe we can gíve better service, sometimes offering comprehensive terms to port users."

The bid for more control over the dockers is thus entirely in line with rationalization moves throughout the ports; the intention is to push up efficiency and profits at the expense of the labour force.

Browne says he believes the main body of his staff to be responsible and concerned with the success of the undertaking.

"But', he claims, 'the board suffers from the problems of the industry as a whole, in particular the gap between Docks Board staff and the registered dock workers. Like Top: Jack Jones with Lord Aldington. Above: Sir Humphrey Browne so many other problems within the docks, this has its roots in history."

What does upset him, he goes on, is the situation where there are 'two nations' within one enterprise, where there are disparities in terms of employment and where the 'irresponsible actions of dock labour' can imperil the good prospects for some ports.

"The board" , he concluded, cannot sustain serious losses to keep some people happy without running into the danger of making many more people unhappy' All this is, of course, is a frontal attack on members of lack ones's union and an open challenge to the gains won by dockers in struggle since the war.

Its timing cannot be accidental. The employers obviously want the fate of the Dock Labour Scheme thrown into the melting-pot of discussion around the JonesAldington report, Rank-and-file dockers, however, will place no confidence in their leaders' commendation of a report agreed by such people.