The annual meeting of the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions opens at Hastings on June 22nd, Demands for nationalisation dominate the resolutions to be discussed, One from the E.T.U., in line with the T.U.C. representations to the Plowden Committee, demands the nationalisation of the airframe industry. The A.E.U. goes further than this in calling for the complete nationalisation of the aircraft industry. The Boilermakers' Society urges the nationalisation of the shipbuilding industry in order to "preserve economic stability, improve its technical development and guarantee the future security of the the industry's workers." The A.E.U. considers the implementation of a scrap-and-build programme to be an urgent necessity, nd considers that the long-term needs of the shipping industry can be best served by the nationalisation of shipbuilding and ship-owning companies.
D.A.T.A. has a resolution recognising and supporting the need for a reduction of the Government's military spending. It urges the Government not to take up its option on further supplies of Americ military aircraft to replace the cancelled TSR-2 and says it believes tha purchase of American aircraft not only imposes a heavy burden on the balance of payments but also encourages other countries to purchase American rather than British aircraft which will hinder Britain's technological development. A.S.S.E.T. asks the conference to accept the view that where Government aid of any kind is provided to private industry there should be "a return to the community in the form of ownership of part of the equity of the companies concerned,"
The question of equal pay looms large on the agenda, three resolutions appearing on this subject. Both the National Union of General and ‘iunidpal Workers and the E.T.U. ask that the Government be urged to implement or ratify the I.L.0. convention on this subject. The N.U.G.M.W. also wants the Government to be urged to introduce equal pay for its ow industrial employees. It also calls for an investigation of the implications of equal pay in the engineering industry. A 1T.G.V¥.U. resolution calls for complete closure of the gap between women's rates and the male labourer's rate in engineering at the earliest possible opportunity.