Things went largely as we feared, By Friday morning, most of the major unions had agreed to endorse Mr,Brown's incomes volicy, At the Shopworkers' conference and the AEU national executive committee, despite left-wing aypeals of varying degrees of passion and cogency, the platforms were able to carry overwhelmine suvvort, As we exnected, the appalling conditions of the low paid workers were used as a pretext for supporting the BO-i crs When My, Best, cf USDAW, held up his payslip, revealing a take hone pay ¢f 29 72s 94), Mr AVion's cheng from the rostrum was: "I thought one of the reasons for an inecmes policy was. because our wages are too low'.> & seme day Mr.Roy vucnkins was sternly heckled at Hall Green at a byéiel ection meeting, where " a man in the audience angrily suggested that it was a mockery te ply Mr.Aubrey Jones 3300 a week to keep other people's wages down", Over in the AEU gathering, Sir William Carron had another field day, in which, in spite of the reservations of a number of delegates, the incomes policy came out on top. Will Paynter's reservations did not. prevent the miners from lining up, either.
Once again the redeeming influence anong the big battalions has proved to be the Transport and General Wiorkers' Union. After a searchin discussion, tensely unresolved until the very last moment, Frank Cousins' legions delivered their verdict. And a wise one it was, too. At Friday's conference, Harry Nicholas made a strong avpeal that it would be most dangerous to decide too hastily. To switch on Mr.Brown's "suiding light" whilst dozens of outstanding claims were awaitins adecision could be most harmful, And the proposed machinery required serious attention before it could be set in motion, As The Week has repeatedly said, and Harry Nicholas made extremely plain, the price review body pronosed is totally inadequate to ensure real control of profits, It can only deal with price increases after they have been implemented, while wage clains can be investigated before they are granted. "In other words, prices come after and wares can come before" said Mr,Nicholas,.
Some shrewd points were made in the debate by Jim Mortimer and Clive Jenkins. DATA's spokesman stressed that 16 7200 companies had declared their returns since the Statement of Intent had been ceremonially signed, and the result had Shown distributed profits considerably inflated. - Dividends after tax md depreciation had gone up by 20%, from 2125m. to £150m. In this context hourly earnings and earnings per ‘unt of output were still at the bottom of the West Euronean league table. For ASSET, Clive Jenkins said that British labour costs were too iow, and likely to remain too low. ASSET did not want an incomes policy as a sub-structure to Britain's role "East of Suez", which was a most dann¢ing hindrance to our balance of payments.
In spite of the factual ammunition possessed by the left delegates, and in spite of the fact that none of Mr,Wilson's three basic conditions for an incomes »olicy (rising production, equity and social justice, and an effective control over rentier incomes as well as wares) have yet been met; the conference accepted the nolicy by 6,649,000 votes to 1,811,000.
But the last word has not yet been spoken. Up to now, executives have been feeling their loyalty to Mr.Wilson's administration far more effectively than their members' dismiet. But the need for a left turn by
Frank Cousins! union holds the line continued/
Mr.Wilsm remain paramount, and it is beginning to be sharply felt at the
grass roots. The’NUR's difficulties, Ian Mikardo's very proper dislike
of the exorbitant steel compensation, and the large warnine letters which
the T & GWU wrote on the wall at this conference, these things are only