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Fighting the good fight
Page 22
Page 23
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URTU is a union for drivers, and general secretary Bob Monks explains what the most important issues are for those out on the road.
Words: Roanna Avison / images: Tom Cunningham HAVING ENTERED the industry as a driver, Bob Monks, general secretary at the United Road Transport Union (URTU), knows a thing or two about life out on the road. And to a driver thinking of joining a union, a general secretary who's been there and done it could be a big draw.
Thanks to his background, Monks can provide an insight into the issues facing drivers that others may not.
Unsurprisingly, drivers' facilities is a subject that comes up all the time with URTU members. "The government doesn't want to know, unless it's causing a particular problem in any given constituency," Monks says.
Former Transport Minister StephenLadyman'sconstituency is in Kent, and so he had firsthand knowledge of Operation Stack on the M20. "1-le was able to put pressure on the local authorities in the South-East to put some form of facility in," Monks points out.
The county council is now looking to put two large truckstops in to get HGVs off the roads when there are problems at the ports. "That's great," Monks believes. "But it just doesn't detract from the fact that the facilities elsewhere are rubbish.
"The government is not prepared to put any money in. It says it's down to private industry to create them." But the cost of creating even a normal rest area is high. Even the motorway service areas (MSAs) are restricted as to how they can expand.
"Many now have houses surrounding them, so space is limited, and people don't want trucks parked up nearby. Even if they do try to expand, it can take years to get an extension."
Monks believes the problem is not new, and has been developing over the past 30 years through employers not wanting to pay parking charges. He goes as far as to suggest that some drivers are complicit in this.
"Some employers say to drivers they are not prepared to pay for parking. They tell drivers if they want to stop in a truckstop, they should pay for it out of the allowance they're given for an overnight stay. The driver will then opt to park in a lay-by.
"Therefore, the truckstops are not being used and are being closed down and not replaced."
Monks believes employers have to accept some responsibility for this situation.
"Former Freight Transport Association (FTA) chairman Richard Turner used to say that, as far as FTA members arc concerned, they are happy to pay for parking if there areplaces for them to go to, but that isn't the case with all operators."
Despite the fact it has been an issue for such a long time, Monks is not hopeful of any changes soon. In fact, he believes the top issue is always going to be driver facilities.
"How drivers should be treated is there for all to see on the Continent," Monks says of the standard of facilities available to drivers in Europe.
The argument levelled is that land is cheaper on the Continent, and more readily available for development. Monks doesn't deny this is a factor, "Some of our government went out to France to look at a truckstop and got to see the financial side, too. They still used the argument land is very cheap because it's not productive land. "[The site they saw] was being run by MSAs and operated next to the services."
But land in the UK in the areas where parking is required is at such a premium, people are not prepared to give it up for hard-standing for lorries, he adds.
Unsurprisingly, salaries are another issue that concerns drivers. Back in the late 70s, there used to be a system where joint industrial councils (JIC) had area agreements.
Employers were affiliated to the Road Haulage Association (RHA) and allowed the RHA to negotiate. A rate would be set and each employer would pay that agreed rate.
In the early 80s, employers started to feel the JICs were restrictive and wanted to negotiate with their own drivers on a firm-by-firm basis.
Monks says the problem is that employers all pay the same to buy the vehicle, the diesel, tax and insurance, so the big variable is drivers' pay. In the 80s and 90s, they were undercutting each other to get work, so the driver would suffer as his wages were cut."
In 2005, when the Working Time Directive for mobile workers came into force. Monks says the industry had a wonderful opportunity to get the professionalism back that is required to attract new drivers. And he thinks the Drivers' CPC could be another chance. But he is not confident it will happen.
"The Drivers' CPC will be fudged," he says. "Look at the Working Time Directive in respect of mobile workers, the government was under a legal obligation to implement the directive in the UK. But it was so watered down it didn't have any affect on the industry.
-Through the concept of Periods of Availability (POD), we have drivers and employers compliant with the WTD, but are working more hours in some cases than before the rules came in."
Long hours and low pay is all part of the problem when it comes to attracting young people to LG V driving.
"The industry relies on long hours. If you do the hours, the pay you earn is acceptable. If you did 40 hours a week, the pay is nothing," Monks says, which few in road haulage would dispute.
"Since the mid-80s, young drivers have not really come into the industry, there is no money in it. Therefore. we have an ageing work force. The average age of drivers in the UK is 53."
And this has created a problem. Sudden1y. employers are realising that without drivers in the cab, vehicles are not going to run. They've had to look for someone to drive their truck, and they have looked to eastern Europe. "They [eastern Europeans] are almost certainly not earning anywhere near what the UK drivers are," Monks asserts.
However, this strategy will make it even harder to attract British drivers because the pay will be too low. "Effectively, the industry has got itself in a corner by using cheap migrant labour. If they continue to use European drivers, the issue could result in more and more drivers leaving their homes in the east to work in the UK.
"At the moment, there are lots of Polish and Hungarian drivers. Last year, we started seeing more Baltic drivers and, as Bulgaria and Romania and Turkey apply for European Union membership, the resource of foreign drivers could continue for a while."
Monks wonders if the industry is shooting itself in the foot by bolstering itself with cheap labour.
"Our members tell us many of these drivers rely on sat-nay and are unable to read the signs if they have to go off their chosen route. There are also questions about their levels of skill."
But Monks doesn't think the average British driver will take much action against the influx of cheap eastern European labour and not because they don't have the inclination to stand up and be counted.
"To be a good lorry driver, a person has to think for themselves, make decisions on a day-to-day basis, and, perhaps, only speak to their employer once a day," Monks says. -The problem is that they are difficult to organise into a cohesive group because, by their very nature, they are independent. If they were a cohesive group, they could make this country grind to a halt in 24 hours. As a union, we are for lorry drivers, and we would encourage as many as possible to join so we can use that power to fight for better facilities and wages," Monks concludes. •