UK drivers work longer & harder
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by Miles Brignall • British drivers are working on average 50% longer than their European colleagues and only 1 in 50 will still be driving by the time they are 60 because the job is so arduous, the United Road Transport Union told the TUC annual conference last week.
URTU executive committee member Les Walton, speaking in a debate on the EC working time directive, told delegates that although road transport is excluded from the directive, the haulage industry is one area in which controls are most needed.
Walton cited the results of a recent URTU survey showing the average UK driver works 62 hour weeks-15 hours more than the national average—and many work up to 80 hours. On top of that, most drivers are required to be away for nights on end, generally sleeping in their cabs. for around £300 per week, before tax, if they're lucky.
As a result, he says, just 1 in 320 will reach the natural age for retirement as a professional driver because so many are forced out of the industry through ill health.
The conference voted unanimously to press for the adoption of the working hours directive and to build the case for lorry drivers and other transport workers to be included in its protection.
7 The EU directive on working time calls for a maximum working week of around 48 hours with a number of provisions and exemptions.