Crisis? What Crisis? RHA's off to Spain
Page 5
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
TIMES for haulage may be hard, but the Road Haulage Association is pressing ahead with its plans for a week-long 1983 conference in the Mediterranean during the main week of the Scottish Motor Show.
The announcement was made some 48 hours before the drivers' strike in the South East was called off, and it has already drawn some critical comments from Transport and General Workers Union representatives whose members' wage claims have still to be settled.
A package deal is being arranged with National Freight travel subsidiary Pickfords Travel for travel and accommodation at the four-star Hotel Andalucia, three miles west of Marbella, on the Costa del Sol in southern Spain, from November 12 to 19.
Business sessions will be held on the Monday to Friday, November 14 to 18, with afternoons free for leisure activities, outings and excursions. The resort offers "exceptional sporting facilities," according to the RHA.
No prices are being quoted yet for the deal, but the retail travel trade is offering comparable holidays in Marbella this winter for around £200 per person for seven nights, sharing a room and with flights from London. The RHA believes that it can provide the Marbella conference for less than a comparable event in Britain.
It also hopes it can attract more delegates than the 100 regular attenders at recent events in British seaside resorts, but TGWU national commercial group secretary Jack Ashwell was less sure this week, saying: "In the present state of the industry, I must question whether the employers can afford to go."
South Wales TGWU officer Geoff Jacob, whose members have still to be offered any wage increase this winter, commented: "Very nice for them. They can afford to go there on the money they're saving on wages."
By contrast, the Freight Transport Association is forsaking the attractions of the British seaside for its biennial conference in September. As in 1981, it will be held in London.
ETA deputy director general Garry Turvey (see p12) told CM that the event will be run on September 21 and 22 at the London Hilton Hotel. There will be an afternoon business session on the first day, and a full-day session the following day with an exhibition.
According to Mr Turvey, the economy has not recovered sufficiently to justify a return to residential conferences, but he said the London event would be geared towards attracting between 400 and 500 delegates.