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WHOSE RIGHTS?
Page 24
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I write on behalf of all drivers and plant operatives at our company concerning the EC Working Time Directive. We work at a small independent quarry in the Midlands which employs 8 HGV drivers and 4 quarry staff. As this is a small business we all chip in and work hard and have a very low turnover of staff. We are never forced to do overtime by our bosses but the majority of us do to get the work done, especially during the busy summer months.
We are all concerned about the 48-hour week being proposed by the EC. Will this affect overtime? So far from reading Commercial Motor and similar trade journals we believe it will. Most of us rely on overtime to take home a decent wage and have calculated that a 48-hour week compared to the current average of 60 hours will mean we will be £70 per week (gross) worse off.
It is entirely our choice to do overtime and being limited to 48 hours, consequently meaning lower pay, we feel, is a breach of our human rights.
Are there other readers whose staff feel the same? If enough employees agreed all over the country surely we would have a case at the European Court of Human Rights or similar?
kichael Hill, on behalf of employees at John Williams Cinetic Sand, Bmmsgrove, Worcs.