Sliding Scale of Wages
Socialist Press1975 1975-07-10Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 6 →
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rise in the cost of living.
We should now be talking not simply of threshold payments set against government figures, but pay rises protected by a sliding scale based on a cost of living index worked out by the trade unions.l He went on: "It would be a powerful thing if the trade unions used their resources at all levels to compile accurate figures on cost of living increases and then insist that wages rose by that amount."
Replying to Jones' argument on social justice he said it would achieve this. than a flat rate to Ascot and Henley after your flat rate is in" he said.
The debate had posed the alternatives clearly. The conference must either fight for a sliding scale or accept Jones' capitalist "solution" of a wage cut to "break the in-, flationary spiral"
Tuesday afternoon's debate on wages brought the issues out even clearer. The sliding scale of wages resolution, kept out of the social contract debate, emerged as the real alternative.
Having been moved by Alan Thornett on behalf of the Cowley 5/293 branch it had obvious widespread support in the conference and several speakers gave it strong backing.
As the strength of the policy emerged Jones intervened with an Executive statement. He said that he could not disagree with the principle of the resolution, even though trade union compiled figure! were an innovation, but he would have to urge conference to vote against it because it contradicted the decision taken on the social contract.
Jones got the vote. But the impact of the resolution and discussion on the conference was considerable. The real nature of the social contract could not have been more clearly demonstrated, or the real nature of the Jones proposals.
The T&G leadership was heavily attacked for allowing the troops to be sent in to break the dustcart drivers' strike and refusing official Bill Coubraugh, from Glasgow, demanded to know why the leadership had not called for national strike action in support of the "If the government can' win a victory by bringing in the army against the working class in Glasgow they might get bigger ideas for the use of the army in the future".
These points were raised as questions on the national affairs report. The issue could not be put to the conference because the troops were used in March and resolutions had to be in during January.
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TROOPS IN GLASGOW