OK drivers lose out in Euro wage table
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by Guy Sheppard
• UK truck drivers are among the lowest paid in the European Union, according to a Commercial Motor survey of pay agreements in six EU member states.
But despite the creation of the single market there are few opportunities for drivers to migrate to better paid jobs. And at home, employment prospects look set to remain static. A survey by Manpower reveals 20% of employers in transport and distribution plan to increase their workforce over the next three months, while another 20% say they are planning job losses.
In Bremen, which is regarded as having average rates of pay in western Germany, the highest basic wage for trained articdrivers is around £247 for a 40-hour week.
For members of the UK's southern Joint Industrial Council, the recommended agreement for this year will give drivers of 38tonners £165 for a 40-hour week. This agreement is followed closely by others winning awards between £150 and £160 a week (see table).
Rod Jenkins, employment affairs manager for the Road Haulage Association, warns that such comparisons are misleading: "Total de-regulation and much more competition within our road haulage industry means there is much more undercutting of rates by the small man starting up in business. There is a very much broader spectrum of rates in this country than on the Continent."
The International Road Transport Union's permanent delegate to the EU, Wim Smoulders, says studies in the past have underlined huge variations in drivers' pay among member states. "Labour costs in north-west Europe have been up to 20% higher than in Spain and Portugal which would make it fairly difficult to harmonise them across Europe," he says.
The only Dutch employment agency for lorry drivers, GPD Wegvervoer, says Holland does not employ any foreign drivers.
And social secretary for the Belgian trade association FEBETRA, Therry Zanrunatteo, says of the 2,500 drivers he calculates pay for, only 10 are from outside Belgium. "The current economic situation is making people redundant; there are too many drivers around," he says.
Maurizio Quintaie, assistant secretary of Unitai in Italy, says stringent labour regulations are the main obstacle to foreigners taking driving jobs.
The only openings appear to be in Germany and these are mainly filled by drivers from eastern Europe and Turkey.