The Road Wages Agreement The wages and conditions of employment
of hauliers defined last week by agreement between masters and men afford an admirable example of what a Conciliation Board can do. There are minimum scales for the weekly wages of drivers both for long distance and local services ; the principle of a 48-hour week is recognized, and pro- vision is made for overtime and pay for public holidays guaranteed ; in addition each worker is to receive one week's holiday a year on full pay. This agreement results from the Road Traffic Act of 1933, one of the objects of which was to bring the conditions of employ- ment on the road up to the standards of those in operation on the railways. The organization which has been responsible for it, consisting of an equal number of representatives of the employers and of the employees, is one which other industries might well copy, even if they cannot as yet establish as satisfactory conditions as the hauliers have been able to achieve. The terms, it is worth noting, were agreed on unanimously.
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