An interesting sidelight on the enormous trade done by the Federation in pastries, teabread, cakes, etc., is given in a report which was prepared by the Federation at the instance of the Co-operative Union. The Union was collecting information with the object of having the tax on sugar repealed or reduced, and the information supplied by the U.C.B.S. showed that the amount of sugar consumed by that Federation in its various products during the past year had been 837 tons; while the taxation which had been paid on this article was £1,500.
Various items of business were engaging attention, all of which had a bearing on the success of the Society. The Continental Tyre Company offered a prize of 5/ to the vanmen for every tyre of theirs which was run more than the guaranteed 10,000 miles, and the directors agreed to accept this; as not only was it good for the tyre manufacturers, but it also made for the saving of outlay on tyres. A test of flour for shrinkage was carried out for thirty-three days, with the result that it was decided to call the attention of the S.C.W.S. to the excessive shrinkage shown. This was explained later as being due to the great demand for flour, which necessitated its being sent out from the mill too soon after being milled, and an amicable settlement was reached. In November 1911, it was agreed to insure the members of the board against accident when engaged on the business of the Society. The only surprising thing about this step is that it had not been taken before.
TESTING DEPARTMENT CONSIDERED.
In November 1911, a special report by Mr Murdoch, principal of the Baking Section of the Glasgow Technical College, was received, the subject of which was the standardisation of flour, so far as proportions of moisture and gluten contained were concerned. Mr Murdoch suggested that the flour should be tested at the beginning of the season and a standard of moisture for each brand fixed; he also suggested that baking tests should be made with the object of comparing the relative values of the various brands. After this report had been considered for some time by the members of committee, it was again discussed, but decision was delayed, and it was not until May 1913 that mention of it again appeared in the minutes. It was then decided that a chemical analysis of the various ingredients in a laboratory was not necessary, but it was thought that an experienced baker might be engaged who would devote his time to making experiments with the various brands of flour, checking costs and testing new recipes; and the whole question was remitted to the productive committee to make further arrangements. The coming of the war put a stop to definite steps being taken, however, and it was not until the end of the fiftieth year of the Society’s history that it was finally decided to establish a testing department. For this purpose, the services of Mr Murdoch, the Technical College expert, were secured for the exclusive use of the U.C.B.S.
PROPOSED SUPERANNUATION FUND.
By a coincidence it came about that the two big federations in the Scottish Co-operative movement were called upon to consider the question of the superannuation of their employees about the same time. It was in the month of August 1912 that the question was raised in the U.C.B.S. boardroom. Mr Miller, the Shettleston representative on the board, who had given notice some time earlier, moved at the committee meeting held on 2nd August “That we consider the possibility of forming a compulsory contributory superannuation fund for all employees, with a compulsory retiral at sixty-five years of age.” This motion, which was seconded by Mr M‘Lean, was agreed to, and it was remitted to the finance committee, manager, and cashier to prepare a scheme for submission to the board.
It is difficult to say whether the two things had any relation, but at anyrate it is remarkable that at the quarterly meeting of the S.C.W.S. which took place in September of the same year a motion for the appointment of a committee to consider the superannuation of directors and employees and to prepare a scheme was given notice of by Kinning Park Society.
At the quarterly meeting of the Baking Society which was held in June 1913 a draft scheme was submitted by the directors for the consideration and provisional approval of the delegates, the chairman stating that if this was done the scheme would be submitted to an actuary for his report on the financial proposals.
Delay was moved on behalf of Kinning Park Society, in order that the societies should have an opportunity of submitting amendments. On the other hand, those who favoured giving the board the provisional approval they asked for argued that the proper time to submit amendments was after the actuary had considered the financial proposals and had come to a decision as to their soundness or otherwise. Disapproval of the whole proposal was also moved, but eventually the motion for delay became the finding of the meeting.
The proposals of the committee were most elaborate. They proposed that all employees who had been in regular employment by the Society for six months and who were in the employment of the Society at the date of commencing the fund, if they were sixteen years of age or upwards and not over fifty years of age in the case of males or forty-five years of age in the case of females, should be members of the fund. The proposed scale of contributions to the scheme was 5 per cent. of the wages or salary received, and contributors were to be eligible at sixty years of age to retire on pension if they so desired. At the age of sixty-five for males and fifty for females they would be eligible to receive annuities ranging from 25 per cent. of their salaries, after ten years’ payment of contributions, to 85 per cent. of their salaries after having paid contributions for fifty-one years. To assist in launching the scheme it was proposed that the Society should make an initial contribution of £10,000. It was also proposed that the superannuation fund should be managed by a committee of seven, which committee should consist of the chairman and three directors for the time being of the U.C.B.S. and three representatives of the employees, who must have at least three years’ service with the Society.