Council skids under coal hauliers?
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THE RHA may well regard a letter to hauliers from Roy Thwaites, Leader of South Yorkshire County Council, as "a deeply disturbing development in the coal dispute." So do I.
After reminding the recipient that he is "a substantial and valued supplier of goods and services to the county council," the letter inquires whether the haulier's vehicles have carried coal from plants, such as Orgreave, where there have been "scenes of disturbing violence." It then asks that all coal movements should cease during the miners' strike.
What, one may reasonably wonder, is the connection between the recipient's position as a council supplier and as a coal haulier? The councillor has denied a veiled threat to withdraw patronage from those who move coal. He merely wished, he said, to discover whether the council could help to prevent disturbances. His method of inquiry is to say: 'Capitulate to the thugs'.
Ian MacGregor, chairman of the National Coal Board, has assured the RHA that independent hauliers will continue to be employed to distribute solid fuel and that the Board will resist any attempt to interfere with management's right to choose them.
Coal hauliers who are victimised by local authorities or nationalised industries should tell the RHA at once. Fellow members should also give them any practical help that can be offered.