Final try for a 48-hour deal
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by Karen Miles • Drivers' unions and employers are making a last-ditch attempt to agree new workingtime rules this week in a bid to head-off the threat of panEuropean drivers' strikes.
The meeting was held in Brussels yesterday (Wednesday) following an agreement to discuss a new draft on implementing the details of the 48hour week. This draft is believed to contain amendments which would make the implementation of the 48-hour week more palatable to employers in the transport sector.
Discussions broke down on 18 September with the Freight Transport Association warning that the draft being discussed then would impose a 20% cut in drivers' productivity while forcing up wage costs by as much as 35%.
If there is no agreement this week the European Commission will put forward its own proposals, probably with a clause to allow48-hour weeks to be averaged out over a four-month period within a fixed ceiling of 60 hours a week.
The EC also said this week that the 48-hour limit would include drivers' loading and unloading time.
Owner-drivers will not be covered by the 48-hour limit, but they will still be restricted to a 48-hour limit by amended EU drivers' hours rules, which will apply only to them.
However, under EC implementation plans, drivers will have to wait five years to benefit from the new limit.
The International Transport Workers' Federation has warned that if the two sides fail to agree this week, drivers will almost certainly take industrial action across Europe.