Drivers' card check
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A MAJOR check of haulage drivers' heavy goods vehicle union identity cards will be mounted early next month by the Transport and General Workers' Union's South-East England members.
The TGWU's Region 1 will check hgv cards at all ports between Lowestoft and Shoreham, including Felixstowe, Harwich and the Channel ports, in the course of the first full week of September.
Regional officer John Moore told CM that inland checks will be conducted at a later stage.
The checks, which are being conducted by the TGWU's haulage and docks trade groups, will establish whether those drivers who should carry hgv cards have one. Those who do not will be refused dock services, Mr Moore added.
He said the cards had been introduced to help maintain agreed wage rates in the haulage industry, and said regular checks would become a feature of life in the industry.
"We are making it start to bite. The thing is meaningless unless it is challenged," he added.
Checks such as next month's are a prelude to the coming winter's round of haulage wage negotiations, for which the first claims are expected around October. In addition to seeking a £7 increase in basic pay (CM, August 11), TGWU national policy is to seek a £5.50 minimum differential for drivers of 38-tonne lorries.