Attention was given to a tabulation of all departures from pre-war conditions, and concurrently with it the claim for an automatic sliding scale was advanced a step. Nothing was heard from Unity House between January 5th and March 14th, when Mr. Thomas wrote: "This matter was discussed by my Executive at their last meeting, and I was instructed to inform you that as the proposals for a sliding scale had been rejected by the railway companies, they had decided to make other proposals to meet the situation."
The objection of the companies was that a guaranteed sliding scale would be too expensive, and an example for other workers to follow. It has been mistakenly criticised and deprecated since by some people, but it was an advance that took much winning, and the Society led the way all the time to the victory.
A Ministry of Labour had been established, and it asked for the co-operation of the Society in making it successful and effective in preventing disputes during the national crisis. The Executive appreciated the appointment of a Ministry of Labour, but regretted its very limited powers, and demanded that the Labour Party in Parliament and the Trade Union Congress should press to make the Office a real one. The first letter to the Ministry from the Society referred to the serious difficulty experienced by men sent away unexpectedly, and unable to obtain food owing to early shop closing and rationing. The Labour Ministry replied that it was a matter for the Railway Executive, and that Committee replied that it was not a matter for them!
The Society was next appealed to for assistance in the release of drivers for military service, and the Committee resolved that the difficulty might be overcome by returning to the R.O.D. those locomotivemen engaged on other military duties, and by the institution of a volunteer civilian railway service in France, which would receive the support of the locomotivemen of the United Kingdom.
I think we are now ready to face the big issues of 1917.
