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Eastern Europe delivers just 245
Page 7
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FEARS OF A flood of cut-price East European truck drivers following the expansion of the EU seem to have been unfounded.
The latest government figures reveal that only 1.400 workers from the eight new EU countries were employed in UK transport in the live months since they joined in May. Of those only 245 were registered as HGV drivers between July and September, with 235 delivery van drivers and 35 fork-lift drivers.
Fewer than 91,000 nationals from the eight new EU states, registered for work between May and September. The scheme has been hailed as a success by Home Secretary David Blunkett, despite claims from the Conservative party that there are probably many more EU economic migrants working illegally.
Blunkett maintains EU workers are filling in the gaps in a range of industries, while the government controls immigration tightly.
"We need legal migrant workers to help fill the 600,000 vacancies in the UK labour market, particularly in sectors which are experiencing recruitment difficulties," he says.
James Booth (Bolton) has recently employed a Polish driver; Ian Baxendale from the firm says: "There has been a vacancy on and off for a few months now. You fill it but they don't stay long. The agency put him through training beforehand."
But Noel Nolan,spokesman for Irish company Nolan Transport. reports difficulties with overseas drivers: "We have had problems with Welsh, English, Polish, French, Spanish drivers — you name it," he concludes.