§ 37. Mr. Moyleasked the Minister of Labour what steps he proposes to take in view of the threatened dispute among salaried staffs of the private bus companies.
§ Sir W. MoncktonThe only dispute affecting the salaried staffs of private omnibus companies which has been reported to me is one affecting members of the National and Local Government Officers Association employed by the Rhondda Transport Co. Ltd. This is at present receiving consideration by my Department in accordance with the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Order, 1951.
§ Mr. MoyleIs it not an extraordinary thing that private bus companies, not merely the Rhondda Transport Company, but others as well—the British Electric Traction Company and other big private passenger undertakings—refuse to do for the salaried staffs what has long since been done by the local government services and local authorities generally, and, indeed, by the British Transport Commission, which is to agree to meet the unions concerned with salaried staffs in order to negotiate rates of pay and conditions of service, and have refused to set up any negotiating machinery at all?
§ Sir W. MoncktonI am aware of the difficulties there have been in setting up negotiating machinery in this matter, but, in fact, the matter has now come to me in the form of a dispute, and it will be dealt with through the appropriate method.