RHA calls a council of wa following Forum 'stalling
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Eby Karen Miles
The Road Haulage Association has called a meeting to discuss further demonstrations after the Government adopted stalling tactics at the latest Industry Forum.
As well as its members, the RHA is inviting unions and campaigning groups including TransAction to the meeting on 28 February at its Peterborough base. It decided on this action after last week's meeting of the forum with Transport Minister Gus Macdonald.
RHA chairman John Bridge says he is "disillusioned that the
whole process is getting caught up in inertia". He now fears that another Budget will pass with out a decision by Chancellor Gordon Brown to reduce diesel duty for UK operators.
"We've got to get all the parties and organisations together to get their views and plan where we need to go from here," he says.
The Department of Transport denies any lack of progress but says it needs more information from operators before the forum's next meeting in April or May. The RHA says this makes it unlikely that the government could impler fuel duty reductions or rob in time for the 21 March Bur
However, the FTA bell( last week's forum meeting resented "steady progress believes the Chancellor CI still produce some con taxation concessions in his I Budget.
Last year's fuel increase sparked off rr demonstrations by hauli orchestrated by TransAc and then endorsed by the R It also led the government to up the Industry Forum to ass the tax problems suffered by operators compared with tl Continental comontitn,-;. II Unions and employers y corned the decision Macdonald to set up a for sub-group to assess the imp of the planned EU 48-h working week. The plan is come to a common view wh the Transport Minister can t. to the negotiations of the EV! transport ministers.
"Working time could well i up as a bigger issue than fu Bridge warns.