SCMU test fee statement refuted by operators
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• There was swift reaction to the statement by the Scottish Commercial Motormen's Union (CM December 19) that the majority of Scottish road transport operators had agreed to pay the heavy goods vehicle driving licence test fee and the cost of the medical examination. By early Friday afternoon, a number of operators had discussed the statement and one of them, Mr. William Dobson, managing director of William Dobson Ltd., telephoned Commercial Motor to refute the statement.
Mr. Dobson, who operates a fleet of tanke rs from Edinburgh, claimed that the union statement was misleading. He said that although a few large operators may have agreed to carte blanche payments, they were in a minority. "The vast majority of operators are small men and they cannot afford such an agreement,". he said.
Mr. Dobson said that the statement in CM was the first indication that the employers had had of the agreement. He had contacted a number of operators, including William Hemphill Ltd., Robert Pollock and Scottish and Newcastle Brewers Ltd., who had told him that they would not agree to pay the fees unconditionally. "If there is an agreement to pay and the driver leaves our service during the succeeding two years, there will require to be some kind of repayment to the employer," he said.
There was concern that drivers in smaller companies would now believe that their employers were meeting the cost of the test and the medical examination and, as the union statement went on to say, some had indicated their willingness to pay a man's time while he was taking the test.
The SCMU statement preceded official statements from the trade associations.
"To my knowledge", comments Mr. L. J. Stokoe, RHA Scottish area secretary, "there is no agreement made between the union or any employers. While there may be some individual agreements on this point, there is no agreement between the majority of hauliers."
Mr Jack Welsh, FTA Scottish secretary, said on Monday: "Members must be left to make their own decisions for there is no statutory obligation on them to pay for either the test fee or the examination."