TUC set to name reported bosses
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by Sally Nash IN The TUC is poised to "name and shame" a list of the worst haulage bosses following a report which reveals that truck drivers are one of the three most exploited groups of workers in the UK.
According to hard-hitting evidence from the TUC's "bad bosses" hotline, truck drivers rank alongside security guards and care assistants as victims of some of Britain's worst bosses, who exploit their employees and drive down working conditions. The TUC's report, Three of the Worst, gives the full findings from the hotline that it ran in December when work ers were encouraged to ring in with their complaints.
It reveals that: • Workers in all three industries are victims of the "low pay and long hours" culture. One truck driver in the report compares hauliers to "a set of burglars"; • Many drivers report examples of firms refusing to install tachographs. "Sooner or later they will get caught but they've got away with it so far," says one; • Many of the culprits are small firms with fewer than 50 staff.
The report includes a number of case studies which show that drivers' main complaints against their bosses concern pay, conditions and safety; but there is also mounting concern about bullying. One driver from the Yorkshire & Humberside region told the TUC hotline that his firm's management decided "suddenly and unilaterally" to axe bonus pay worth up to £30 a week, to cut one week's holiday, and to increase the working week from 38 hours to 40 hours.
Another respondent summed up the views of many: "No one goes into driving trucks because it's a nice life, but the money used to be good. Now it just feels like it's going down all the time and you have to keep running to keep still."
The results come as no surprise to Danny Bryan, Transport & General Workers Union national secretary, who claims that "the whole industry systematically abuses the law".
TUC general-secretary John Monks says the report makes the arguments for union recognition legislation "loud and clear".
— A TUC spokeswoman promises the "name and shame" list will be published in early May. "Investigations are still continuing into some companies," she says.