Shotgun union
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Jack Ashwell, the TGWU National Organiser, says he wants convoys with armed guards organised to protect drivers on the Middle East run. Do you really think he means it? Because I don't. In fact I can't believe that he even thought about it before he spoke.
Does Jack really believe that the Belgians, Germans and Austrians are going to allow armed guards to travel through their countries in these days of international terrorism? And can he really believe that the Eastern Europeans would allow armies from the capitalist West to penetrate their frontiers? Surely, never.
Of course, he could have meant that each of the transit countries would provide the necessary protection against bandits, but since they only materialise in Turkey then that's the only country where protection is required, and if the experience of a British driver of my acquaintance is any indication of how they work then forget it. There he was one night curled up in his sleeping bag under the "protection" of an armed Turkish sentry posted to ward off the hill bandits. You may be able to imagine his surprise when he saw the soldier's bayonet slipping through the quarter light and a khaki-clad arm following it to open the door. He then watched his sheepskin jacket and k.260 disappear. That, Jack, is what armed protection does, so that won't work either.
Still, let's not knock top union officials who are showing interest in the welfare of their members. Let's try to be helpful and suggest to Jack that he takes his leave of TGWU headquarters and makes the run with one of the lads. He'll learn a lot and save himself the embarrassment of making the I kind of suggestion that prompted this little piece.