Today has pot the much heralded Pay Board report on relativities to one side for the time being. The Government made a very definite and determined bid to use the framework of the relativities report as a means of reaching a deal with the TUC. The TUC has so far rejected this, but on the grounds that the report is complex, leaving the door open for further discussions.
In fact, the report is extremely simple-it is an integral part of the Tories' incomes policy, and its acceptance means acceptance of that policy.
The report makes no bones about this fact. It begins: "Our task has been to examine the problems of pay relativities arising within and between groups of employees, bearing it mind in dealing with these problems within the overall pay timir set for the counter-inflation programme. "(author's emphasis)
By "relativities" the board refers to the relationship between the levels of pay of groups of watkers who are not members of the same negotiating group. The term "differential" is used in a special sense to denote pay differences within a single negotiating group.
As the report points out, Phase 3, by applying its "7 per cent or £2.25' limit to the total wages of a negotiating group of workers, does alow tor the ad ustment ot ditterrtak ir this sense, But the relativities are a different matter, An incomes policy which sets a low ceiling on wage rises will tend to freeze the existing structure, because most groups of workers will negotiate rises at or near the legal limit. Thus it will be virtually impossible to alter the relationship between the pay levels of different groups.
PERMANENT AND STABLE
Herein lies the real importance of the relativities report. Some means of adjusting pay relativities over the long run must be worked out if a compulsory incomes policy is he both permanent and stable.
In the words of the Pay Board: "There can be little doulit that some element of flexibility if it is to last more than a short penod.' Or again: "We therefore recognize the desirability. indeed the necessity, to adapt a continuing incomes policy so that some provision can be The relativities mechanism would allow the Government to head off a major challenge to tis policy by cancessions which the rest of the working class would then have to underwrite At the same time it would enable the Government to blame its failure to do anything vhout the plight of the lower paid on the 'greed" of th more powerful sections.
There are certaio conditions that must he m to make such a scheme effective. The Pay Board notes: "On the assumption that the amount available for all wage increases is limit ed, other groups must bear the cost of any special treatment. The number of beneliciaries must therefore be kept small. If the refusa. to grant special consideration, or the deduction of the cost of extra increases for some out of the pay packets of otbers, is seen exclusively as the action of the Government, then the Governmer will achieve uttle in the way of defusing opposi ion to irs incomes policy.
The report suggests oute major way around INVOLVING THE TUC this- the direct involvement of the TUC in the relativities mechanism, It would be risky to involve the TUC too closely in the working of the policy. for that would just give rise to end. Jeas hageling. It must be brought close enough to lend its blessing to the business, but not so close as to jam up the works The report proposes that the CBI and the TUC should be involved in a preliminary selec tion process to determine who is eligible for special consideration; that a Government body should evaluate the case and make recommendations, and that the final decision should be made by the Employment Minister, The Government would thus retain the whip hand At the moment the TUC is maintaining its stance of total opposition to Phase 3. Any oper retreat from this position would be seen by many workers as a weat betrayal and would greatly weaken the influence of the TUC, But a more devious retreat is well within the realm of possibility. Already many trade union leader including "left-wingers" like Scanion and Jones-are going along with Phase 3 in practice while concinuing to oppose it in words.
As Red Weekly pointed out sume time ago the Tories will only make substantial concessio to the miners if the TUC agrees to underwrite Phase 3. The TUC cannot do this in so many words, but the Tories have made it clear that they would go for acceptance of the relarivities