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'Dishonest' drivers row
Page 43
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by John Darker • The Scottish Commercial Motormen's Union has reacted sharply to suggestions that dishonest lorry drivers connive at lorry thefts. Three recent statements have incensed the union, I gather.
Mr. Cecil V. Hart, head of a London company of chartered loss adjusters was reported as saying, in a recent Edinburgh speech, ". . in 75 per cent of the cases where goods are stolen in transit the driver of the vehicle or his mate are in it up to the neck".
Police Superintendent D. Rees, of Luton, has said, according to the union's journal, that about one in five commercial drivers are "not straight".
The third statement to arouse the ire of the Scottish drivers' union was that of Mr. J. T. Brown, chairman of the RHA's vehicle security committee. Commenting on the drop in the number of thefts of or from commercial vehicles in the Metropolitan Police District in the first quarter of this year, but an increase in the value of goods stolen—up from £156,000 in 1967 to £199,000 in 1968— Mr. Brown was reported as saying: "The thieves are becoming far more selective in their choice. That their choice is so uncanny argues that in many cases there is collusion. Somewhere along the line information is being passed on. Once again, operators are urged to exercise the greatest care in the enrolment of new staff."
General secretary Alex Kitson says: "I am certainly not going to permit my members to he slandered in this sweeping style without a helluva lot more evidence than pronouncements made in situations where they have not been challenged. I have 21,000 members 'who are not prepared simply to be classified as 'bandits'.
"So far as SCMU is concerned the originators of these statements either put up or shut up—put up the facts to support their contentions or keep their mouths shut on this question so far as Scottish lorry drivers are concerned."
He continues: "Dishonesty will never be tolerated by this union—either dishonest acts or dishonest statements. These are the type of inflammatory statements made in a • sweeping, generalized fashion which can provoke a violent reaction among union members—and who can blame them if they do react in this way? How many other trade unionists would allow themselves to be pilloried in this fashion without supporting evidence?" Mr. Kitson goes on to make some constructive suggestions. Employers should do more, he thinks, to ensure that vehicles are rendered as safe as possible not only from the point of view of the load itself but of the valuable vehicle; and local authorities should provide proper lorry parks with supervision arranged.
He reveals that SCMU and the TGWU jointly worked out a very good system with one employer of recording the past records of employment of new applicants for driving jobs. It had worked well and there seemed no reason why it should not be extended. He believes the transport unions themselves could be made responsible for nominating drivers to take particularly valuable loads.
But one major problem is that the road transport industry's labour force is largely transient in character. "It is time a professional class of driver was created with apprenticeship schemes and graded logbooks and licensing. The Transport Bill could play a major part in creating a Lorry Drivers' Charter covering all aspects of the industry. Let's have some form of vetting system pn drivers written into the Transport Bill. For instance, we could have a provision that all licences should include a photograph of the holder—a simple step in the right direction."
• Grimsby haulage firm. Morrison Transport (Grimsby) Ltd., is considering erecting a new large haulage depot costing some £70,000 on the town's South Humberside Industrial Estate.