Drivers launch charter
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• Union leader Jack Crossfield has kicked off a campaign for safer working conditions for truck drivers.
Crossfield and a group of 20 drivers launched a "Drivers' Charter" at the weekend. It demands tougher enforcement to curb hauliers who force drivers to flout rules (CM 30 April-6 May).
Crossfield, a Transport and General Workers' Union shop steward, says the campaign re ceived support from a cross-section of people at a public meeting in Manchester at the weekend.
He has won backing from some owner-operators, local councillors and the Green Party.
According to Crossfield, MPs, councillors and officials pay too much attention to the transport lobby, and not enough to drivers themselves, when it comes to discussing road safety.
The meeting was addressed by a senior traffic examiner and a representative from the Health and Safety Executive.
"Their evidence was that there are not enough resources to keep the unsafe vehicles off the road," says Crossfield.
Crossfield plans to publicise the charter locally before taking the campaign across the country. He will explain the charter in Commercial Motor's Sound Off feature on 28 May.