Part 4 - DW062 001 026 004

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4 THIS APPEARED IN Impact, THE MAGAZINE OF "SOUTHERN GAS" HOW ARE YOU AT GAS SCI-Fi? HOW ABOUT THIS FOR A REPLY? Chairman Paul Rhodes has asked you how you see Southern Gas in the 80's. IMPACT readers are invited to tell the editor how they see — in fanciful science fiction language — what we'll be like, what futuristic aids we shall be using, and how staff will behave in 100 years time. Entries to the Editor, IMPACT,/RHQ, by February 5th for the publication in our March issue of winning articles. PRIZES: a fiver for the best entry and useful consolation prizes. In this, my first article since my appointment as historical research as- sistant for the National Energy Authority, I am going briefly to look back over some of the changes which have taken place in the gas side of the gas side of the Autho- rity's operations during the last hundred years. Most of you will know from the history books that indignation with the plundering and abuse of the country's natural resour- ces for financial gain was one of the factors which led to power being taken out of the hands of the financial interests. This made possible the development of the Integrated Energy Plan, combining natural gas, oil, coal, nuclear, solar and tidal sources of power in the most eco- nomical and efficient programme. The 1995 Oxford experiment, where for the first time every dwelling in a major city was provided with hot water and cen- tral heating by the water which had previ- ously been placed in power station "cooling towers", and whose heat had therefore been wasted, proved such a success that today, in 2078, 90% of all urban dwellings have this facility. In 1978, every family (the basic unit of society in those days) had its own "gas cooker" on which the wife was expected to cook all the family's meals! These "cookers" could cost as much as five to six times the family's weekly in- come! Today, of course, no woman would stand for such a thing, nor is there any reason why she should, when every workplace, and every neighbourhood, has its own restaurant providing subsidised good quality meals, and in surroundings which, 100 years ago, would have been out of the reach of the ordinary man — or should I add, woman — in the street." Of course we still have our "catering units" for the occasional evening meal "in", or for when someone is interested in doing a bit of cooking, but these bear no resemb- lance to the elaborate and tawdry "cookers" of old. Many of us forget now how the removal of the commercial motive from the gas aut- hority's activities made an immediate chan- ge in the lives of many of the people who worked for it. Thousands of people who had been reduced to lives of drudgery, pushing pens in order to ensure that the fantastically inflated prices charged for both gas and appliances were gathered in smoothely, were able to take up use ful, productive positions in society. This had three major effects which have continued to develop to this day: (1) There was a jump in productivity of essential goods and services for the people. (2) The working week was slashed. (3) There was a great increase in the cul- tural activity of society, because many of these people had a high level of edu- cation, which was generally wasted in the jobs they had been doing previously. Incidentally, if you go to the Nati- onal Energy Museum at Windscale, you can see one of the devices which they had in those days, called a "gas meter", which actually measured, in minute detail, the amount of gas each family used, which then had to be paid for! — or else your gas would be cut off. Another interesting exhibit at the museum is the only surviving copy of the magasine Impact (published by "Southern Gas"). It would be hard to imagine anything further removed from today's Energy Auth- ority Workers' Magazine — packed as it is with lively, critical and artistic contri- butions from the employees. This century-old Impact seems to be largely aimed at publicising the "big- shots", who had a style of life way abo- ve that of the productive workers, and some of whom were even provided with a special kind of servant called "chauf- feur", to drive them around in luxuri- ous limousines (a type of car), while the fitters and drivers had to use un- comfortable, badly designed vehicles, and some of them even — wait for it — bicyc- les! (for a definition of the word "ser- vant see the Dictionary of Obsolete Eng- lish). All this seems very strange now, in the year 2078, when we will soon be going from the national 3-level wage structure forward to the new 2-level structure; so strange, perhaps, that someone from 1978 reading this article, would only be able to regard it as "science fiction"! Well, that is all I have time for this week. My next article will deal with the story of how 80, St. Mary's Road, Southam- ton (the old "Regional Headquarters of the "Southern Gas Board") was converted into a Cultural, Sports and Recreational centre for Gas Workers. ECONOMIC NOTES TOTAL PERCENTAGE INCREASES IN CONSUMER FRICE INDICES, MARCH 74 - SEPTEMBER 77 WEST GERMANY U.S.A. NETHERLANDS LUXEMBURG CANADA BELGIUM JAPAN DENMARK FRANCE EIRE ITALY U.K. 17-2 28-6 33-1 33-9 35.6 40.3 41.1 42.2 43 75-9 76 81 State aid to EEC coal in- dustries during 1976 was as follows: UK £67m, Germany £247 million, France £278m, Belgium £138m. This amount- ed to 50p, £2.60p, £13.30p and £19.80p per tonne produ- ced, respectively. Imports of Soviet steel to the UK rose from 16,000 tonnes in 1976 to about 100,000 tonnes in 1977. Ship ments of hot rolles coil ac- counted for 5% of the UK mar- ket. In the last three months of 1977, imports of bacon to the UK weighed a quarter more than total supplies pro- Cuced in Britain. The natio nal pig-breeding herd fell to 810,000, the lowest sin- ce 1966. The chemical industry in Britain employs 433,000 people, about 5% of all em- ployees in industry. There are some 3,000 companies, but 50% of all sales are accounted for by 10 large groups, including ICI, Shell and Esso chemicals. Shell Chemicals have put back plans to build a 350,000 tonnes a year ethy- lene cracker in Cheshire, and instead have reached an agreement to buy 40% of the production they wanted from a 600,000 tonnes a year ethylene cracker being built by the American Esso combine in Fifeshire. Ethylene is the basic material of all syn -thetic materials and plas- tics. In November 1977, overti- me worked in British manu- facturing industry amounted to 15.58 million hours per week, and 35.2% of manu- facturinf workers were doing overtime. (Cont. from Page 1) More than a hundred waiters and chefs joined picket lines after owner Cyril Margolis refused for more than a year to recognise their union, the TGWU. Margolis is reputed to have said: "I want to be the George Ward of catering." At pre- sent wages are £26 for a waiter and £32 for a chef for a 40 hour week. There are no tips. In reality a 55 hour week is compulsory. BACK TO FRONT We understand there is no truth in the rumour that the National Front has bought the copyright to "Roots" in order to show it backwards.

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