Going out with a bang
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Ron Webb, transport secretary of union Unite, is getting ready to retire at the end of the year, but not before one last fight. He talks to CM about his career.
Words: Roanna Avison / image: Tom Lee
WHEN MOST PEOPLE write their retirement date on the calendar they hope that the last few months in the job will allow them to wind down and prepare to hand over the reins But the Unite national secretary of transport, Ron Webb, who retires on 31 December, is not expecting to have such a luxury. Instead, he expects the job to remain "24/7 100 miles an hour until the end".
Webb is highly regarded in the industry and came in at number 17 in CM'S Power Players list in 2009 but, despite this, he admits he has a number of disappointments about his time at Unite.
"I've been a full-time officer for 26 years and feel like the job has just started. Some things have clearly improved, but others have got worse." he admits One area Webb feels angry about is that the transport and logistics sector has been "short changed" by respective governments:"It is constantly used as a cash cow for the Treasury with the government giving nothing back."
Essential user rebate
''One of the most legitimate and genuine claims from the industry was the essential user rebate and I feel it's unacceptable that the industry and particularly small companies were not assisted, and many ended up losing money and going bankrupt," he says.
He adds that the Treasury is still extracting huge sums from the industry through taxation, and nothing comes back to it. Webb insists the best transport minister he has dealt with was Gus Macdonald between 1999 and 2001. "I don't know of any other who tried to understand the logistics industry or was prepared to listen like Macdonald," he says.
"Ever since then the industry has been in a vacuum of transport ministers coming and going, up or out. He was the only one in my opinion who attempted to understand the real problems facing the industry and genuinely tried to deliver more than he achieved."
Webb says the problem with the rapid succession of transport ministers since Macdonald is that there is always a new kid on the block and "off we go again trying to educate them about the industry".
"I also believe there is far too much control from civil servants behind the scenes who know nothing about the industry," he says.
Looking back at what he has achieved over the years, Webb is pleased he has managed to improve pay and terms and conditions for drivers, but admits in some areas, such as for tanker drivers, it has not moved nearly enough.
"I've been involved in many vigorous, hard and aggressive campaigns and most have been successful. The Shell dispute [in 2008] gave the membership a boost, but I never consider a dispute satisfying," he adds. "The important point is the improvements we have achieved through the dispute. But I've always felt it's a failure when, after all the discussions and negotiations, we have to go down that route."
However, not all employers ignore the needs of the drivers. Webb says there are good companies out there that have changed things for drivers, but he insists there are still far too many where standards have never risen.
"The tendering process has been driven by the customer base wanting transport for nothing and I believe the big retailers are the worst at this. They are demanding more for less and this is bringing standards down to the lowest level,"
Low morale
He also believes the fuel sector could do a lot to improve pay and conditions for its drivers.
'The petroleum sector campaign we are running at the moment has been driven by our members in the sector saying 'enough is enough'. I have never known morale to be so low" Webb says. "Like the retailers, the petrol companies want more for less and it's worse than it's ever been before, There is a lack of recognition and respect for tanker drivers There has to be a way to give the tanker drivers job security and decent standards without the need for disruption of delivery services."
lie says he spends far too much of his time trying to defend what drivers have rather than trying to improve it.
Webb believes the oil companies' and their contractors' desire for more for less is causing some real health and safety issues for drivers.
"We recently wrote to the stakeholders in the petroleum sector and invited them to a summit meeting. Some didn't respond and the rest declined saying it was an issue for their contractors, but the fact is the contractors won't do anything without the pressure from the customer."
Fantastic people
Overall, Webb describes his time at Unite as a fantastic experience and says it has been a privilege to serve the members who, in his eyes, are great people who demonstrate real professionalism.
"In my experience LGV drivers are highly intelligent people, and they have to be in order to drive the vehicles they do," he says. "I often wonder why they are driving vehicles when they could be doing anything, but in most cases it's because they love driving. Tanker drivers in particular are no-nonsense people.
While no one has yet been appointed to replace him, Webb knows that once the new person is in the role it will be a case of the 'king is dead, long live the king'.
-1 know I've been doing the job for years, but it's not about me, it's about working for the membership and the new king will take up that mantle," he concludes. •