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ITreatise that it is many years since John W Stevenson (CM 6-12 Nov) was employed by United Road Transport Union and that the circumstances of his leaving had left him somewhat embittered, However, the fact that he left long before I arrived on the scene hardly justifies his vitriolic tirade against the union that once served him so well, or his attack on me. Even so, I will attempt to answer the somewhat confused points he has raised.
First, as he should know, the TUC is in no sense URTU's "parent body". URTU is presently affiliated to the TUC, as it has been since at least 1902, but it certainly does not "owe" anything to the TUC, not even our current subscription.
The rest of his letter betrays the fact that Stevenson is only too well aware of the facts and is simply trying to stir up trouble. He is mistaken in his belief that URTU was the originator of agency drivers" and then told employers "not to employ these union drivers". It was another well-known transport union, and another equally well-known employment agency.
His supposition that any employer, least of all the "blue-chip" companies with whom Industries' Driving Force deals, could be coerced into taking on drivers under the implied threat of "whistleblowing", even if URTU or IDF were prepared to issue such a threat, is, frankly, ludicrous.
It is also insulting to both URTU and IDF, the loyal employees of both organisations and to our clients standards 1.DF drivers are all fulltime employees of the company, not the union, and are in great demand because of their training, skills and experience. The "tie-up" between the union and EDF is certainly
unprecedented, provided that Stevenson is willing to ignore the history of the Co-operative movement and its origins in the broader labour movement. Stevenson's point about the supposed "love-in" relationship between CRTU and CM exposes his lack of judgement.
Douglas Curtis, head of campaigns and communications, The United Road Transport U??ion.