EC delays 48hr working week
Page 7
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
by Karen Miles • Hard-working drivers hoping to spend less time at the wheel are set to be disappointed following the European Commission's decision to drop plans for tighter drivers' hours rules--and to scrap its fast-track approach to the 48-hour week.
The long-awaited reductions in drivers' working hours are now five years away and most long-distance drivers will continue to work 60-hour weeks.
Union leaders across Europe have threatened further protest blockades. They are angered by the EC's U-turn on plans to amend drivers' hours regulations by including loading and unloading time. This was fuelled by a lack of agreement with employers over the implementation of rules governing a 18-hour week for drivers.
If they cannot agree by the end of the month the EC predicts a five-year delay in implementing any reductions in working time for transport workers. In the interim the EC will try to implement its own proposals. These include a clause allowing 48-hour weeks to be averaged out over a fourmonth period, with a maximum 60-hour working week.
Another meeting between European unions and employers is planned for 30 September but neither side expects a resolution, Danny Bryan, national secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union, says the amendments are needed because the proposed working time rules will not cover selfemployed drivers. "We feel very badly let down by the Commission, which has done a U-turn," he says. "The Commission has raised the expectation of drivers throughout Europe...and it has ended up with disappointment."
The T&G says it will put the reduction of working hours at the top of its agenda.