UK truckers fight back against lousy pay and conditions

On August 23 heavy goods vehicles (HGV) drivers working for many different firms organised, through a private Facebook group, a stay-at-home strike across the UK among a flurry of concern from logistics managers, retailers and wholesalers and the bourgeois media over supply chain disruptions and shortages of goods._

The stay-at-home action went ahead, contrary to claims in the media that the strike had been called off. Who initiated this attempted sabotage of the strike is not clear, but it could only have been in the interests of the bosses.

The reason why there are too few lorry drivers is obvious to members of the profession. For decades, wages have been suppressed and conditions worsened in every possible way, meaning that 46% of license holders to operate heavy goods vehicles choose not to work driving lorries.

This is a chronic problem for capitalism across Europe, though it has become acute in Great Britain due to European workers returning home during the pandemic and then being confronted with tougher immigration rules after Brexit.

The Facebook group regularly debunks news articles in the tabloid press about how drivers are paid and looked after extremely well when the conditions and wages for the profession have steadily been eroded for the last few decades._

Around the time of the strike military personnel were put on standby, the prospect of using HGV license holders who are out of prison on day release to deal with shortages was discussed and the media itself has been putting the blame on Brexit in cutting off the supply of cheap drivers from Europe.

Shortly after the stay home strike “Unite” suspended a planned strike for GXO drivers, responsible for 40% of all beer deliveries in the UK, for a derisory 4% pay increase._When tax and National Insurance is taken out of the pay rise the increase will be well below the rate of inflation, i.e. a pay cut in real terms.

This action was met with anger and mockery in the stay-at-home strike Facebook group, with many comments on how unions have long ignored and been useless for truck drivers.

Later on into this supply chain crisis it has been possible for “Unite” to secure a 30% pay increase for Manchester-based Argos workers a move that was met with celebration in the group and comments on how bosses will drag their feet until it’s too late.

Fuel crisis

Then on 23 September there were reports that BP was having difficulties supplying filling stations with petrol and diesel. This caused a rush of for drivers to fill up their tanks at the following weekend, causing up to 90% of filling stations to run out of at least one grade of fuel. This came shortly after the scare stories about empty food shelves in supermarkets, also as a result of a shortage of drivers.

Although there was no shortage of fuel as such, the “just-in-time” supply chain network is collapsing. Moreover, it is in the nature of capitalism that individual capitalists will try to exploit the situation, jeopardising the system as a whole. For example, the UK’s second largest petrol refinery claimed it was “on the brink of collapse” in the middle of the fuel crisis, in order to pressure the government into making tax concessions. This added to the panic buying.

Some companies have offered higher pay and signing-on bonuses for drivers. However, for the most part, this just shifts the problem as workers move from one badly paid job to a slightly less badly paid one, or from one sector (e.g. refuse collection or the fire service) to another (e.g. supermarket deliveries).

The Government rushed through proposals to an approval of 5000 temporary visas for European drivers in a U-turn on its anti-immigration policy. However, the visas will require them to be sent packing on the day before Christmas – they are being treated with complete contempt. Edwin Atema, of the Dutch FNV Union, summed it up perfectly: “The EU workers we speak to will not go to the UK for a short-term visa to help UK out of the shit they created themselves.”

The issues to be weighed up for the drivers are not just about the pay; they would also need to secure short-term accommodation._There are restrictions on drivers sleeping in their cabs when not involved in deliveries and in any case, who would want to be stuck in cab on the road or in budget hostels for weeks on end?

The next stay-at-home strike was organised for 5 November, traditionally celebrated in the UK as “Guy Fawkes Night” with bonfires and fireworks.

Safety issues

In its desperation to “solve” the crisis, the UK government has relaxed the rules on maximum working hours, a clear safety hazard as drivers are more likely to doze off at the wheel. It has also proposed making it easier to qualify as an HGV driver. Incredibly, this includes removing the requirement to prove you can reverse an articulated truck, and that you can uncouple the cab. This is bound to present a risk of accidents and a danger to both the drivers themselves and other road users.

Moreover, the Ministry of Transport is telling workers in test centres to increase their productivity, i.e. test (and pass) more drivers per day. There is also a huge backlog of driving tests needed for private drivers. In protest at the extra workload, members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) backed strike action by 92% on an 80% turnout in a ballot announced on 24 September.