TUC leaders decided on December 18 to increase the membership of their General Council fran 35 to 40. Two of the additional seats may go to the largest unions, the Transport and General Workers' Union and the Amalgamated Engincering Union, The decision, taken at a meeting of the TUC's inner executive, its Finance and General Purposes Committee, will be re-examined by the General Council, The plan is to create a new TU group for technical and scientific workers, who would have me representative on the General Council (possibly Mr. George Doughty, General Secretary of the Draughtsmm's and Allied Tecimicians' Association).
Four of the existing groups would each have an additioal representative. The fact that two of these are for workers in engineering and transport (other than railways) provides the opening for the TGWU and AEU. These two unions (each of which has three representatives on the General Coumcil at present) have 2,5million members between them, while all the other 167 unions affiliated to the TU have a cambined membership of 6.3 million. The other two groups of workers which are to be given an extra seat on the General Council are the "professional, clerical and entertainment" croup and the'P.ublic employees", The men most likely to take these seats are Mr, Henry Chapman, of the Clerical and Administrative Workers’ Union, and Mr, AeR. Akers, General Secretary of Confederation of Health Service Employees, The membership of the General Council should be drastically altered if it is to reflect the actual strength of affiliated unions. Such unions as the National Union of Mineworkers and the National Union of Railwaymen are relatively over-represented because of the decline in their membership over the years, On the other hand, white collar workers, whe were only very partially unionised when the present compositio of the General Council was fixed, are under-represented,