Citizen Smiths
Page 44
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Publication of the Foster repor recommending that roadsidE checks of lorries should be madE by night as well as by da coincided with the wors weather for 15 years and mus have endeared the committee tc Government vehicle examiners The idea of lying under a lorry ir slush and pitch darkness may IDE highly diverting to committet members who are warml) tucked up in bed but is not in th( best interests of mechanica efficiency or individual safety.
If all the committee's recorm mendations were put into effect, every other man in the country would have to be called up as e Department of Transport enfor cement officer or examiner Operators would be frightenec to take their vehicles on the roac in case they were pounced upor by an eager examiner, by E "selected and specially trainec police officer" authorised tc prohibit vehicles on the spot oi by a uniformed traffic warden.
Any driver who had gone of his boss could drop a spanner ir the gearbox by infringing thE hours regulations, which coulc result in a general prohibition or the vehicle and financial loss.
When this ill-timed recom mendation was published hau lage drivers were demonstratinc their power by striking again& the offer of a 13.2 pc increase ir wages to compensate for C much lower rise in the cost a living. The power of workers tc hamstring their employees ir particular and the public ir general needs to be curbec rather than extended. There art already far too many Citizer Smiths.