The Professionals
Page 24
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Iread with interest the two letters in CM, one relating to the 3% JIG agreement, which the writer thought was derisory, and the other, in my opinion, "sneering" at the URTU pension schemes.
The first writer used the word "professional" in the driver's description and the other chose to use truck driver. Well, what's in a name—we all know that they meant: "The wages paid to drivers do not reflect the responsibility and long hours associated with the job."
There must, however, be some realism brought into the discussion and that is that the URTU cannot negotiate with a haulage company an increase in wages for their members that exceeds what the haulier's competitors are paying Those days have long passed. The JIC arrangement does at least provide a minimum increase annually.
I have no connection whatsoever with the URTU but I know that it does provide its members with many services and is a positive contributor to the drivers' cause.
I would suggest that drivers do not only relate union membership to fighting the wages cause; it is only one factor in a large number of important matters that affect your working life. For this reason, the URTU must be applauded for making a pension scheme available to its members for, as recently reported in CM, the average age of drivers is reducing and they will surely benefit from this scheme.
If it was possible that belonging to such organisations as the URTU meant that the driver was somehow superior in a technical sense to nonmembers—perhaps by training or testing or even commitment—then employers would prefer their drivers to be members This would be the start of real professionalism and increased status.
Many years ago, during negotiations with the URTU, I suggested that our firm would supply a removable plate like the rear number plate on artics that simply stated: "My name is Joe Jones. I am a member of the URTU. A professional driver."
Company names are highly visible and I felt that the driver's skill should also be recognised. Unfortunately there was not enough support from what I truly believed they were, and still are: the professionals. John Bowlf.er,
Strongserve Ltd