OPINIONS and QUERIES
Page 28
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Why Road Transport is 'Unnecessarily Wasted
I N a leading article in your issne for January 3 you put the questien as to whether some dock workers adopt a policy of ca,canny and 70 per cent. efficiency. I would dare to say that this is certainly true in connection with some of our very large food-distribution stores.
These are often run on those trade union rules which we have been politely asked to set aside for the duration. Thousands of lorry drivers are working 14 to 16 hours nightly on trunk services,for six to seven days a week, not as an exceptional instance, but week by week, to bring foodstuffs from various parts of the country, and they are often held up on arrival at their destinations because the men there refuse to unload the vehicles
There was a case last week of a driver arriving at a large stores in London at 3.50 p.m., having been delayed by weather conditions, and some eight men were ordeted not to unload this food as it would necessitate about an hour's overtime. The driver and his mate, with their lorry (a 12-tortner), had to return to the depot and remain .thve all night loaded, with the possibility of damage from air raids and the certain loss of a journey beteen London and Liverpool. Multiply such instances over the 12 months and you may realize part of. the reason for congestion at the docks.
The union delegates who force these restrictions, however justified they may be in peace-time, should try the work of bringing a lorry and trailer or eight-wheeler through the blackout for 200 miles, only to discover that men in their own class of life will not co-operate. It seems to me that the blackout and the siren are good excuses for the lazybones.
It may be difficult in the case of men who live a long way from their Work or who are getting on in years, but in many instances the employees sleep in shelters provided by the concerns in question. Surely they would not feel the loss of an hour or twb of rest to help their brothers on the road in their struggle Against much greater difficulties, These enemies of the Nation should think of the men in the Merchant Service, who have no shelters and no rigid restrictions on their work, only steel nerves and the determination to bring food to this country. What must they think of a system-which permits workers to be dictated to as to when they shall unload these vehicles?
Anyone who does not believe these statements is welcome to dofi a,n old suit and hat and have a ride around on a lorry for a week or so as a second man. He will then see how our " Go-to-it" efforts are being wantonly frustrated. R.E. London, N.12,