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woensdag 6 oktober 2021

#WORLD #WORLDWIDE #UK #ANARCHISM #News #Journal #Update - (en) #UK, #ACG: The chicken's come home to roost (but will the #Turkeys get a reprieve at #Christmas?)

 The present crisis which has seen panic buying, particularly of petrol but also

of the usual ?panic' commodities such as toilet roll and pasta, shows how
vulnerable capitalism actually is. It exposes how the system is dependent upon a
logistics workforce that potentially holds a great deal of power, should it
choose to use it. And, in part, this crisis is a product of workers' rejection of
an increasingly stressful and badly paid occupation. ---- The present lack of HGV
drivers cannot simply be blamed on Brexit, although it has played its part. Prior
to Brexit, the UK was short of 76,000 HGV drivers, with around 300,000 employed.
European drivers constituted about 45,000 of that workforce in 2017. Logistics UK
estimates that the deficit of drivers is roughly 90,000 drivers short for the
requirements of distribution in the UK. With the changes to rights of residency
that Brexit brought, many European drivers left the country, mostly to the
European mainland.

The Covid crisis also led many drivers to return home, alongside many others.
According to the Office of National Statistics about 12,500 EU HGV drivers have
left the workforce since the start of 2020. But this is dwarfed by the loss of
approximately 55,000 non-EU drivers in the same time period. This has been put
down to retirement, the lack of driving tests during Covid and tax changes, but
also increased workloads, diminished working conditions and wages, and unsociable
hours mean that lorry driving in the UK has become an increasingly unattractive
occupation. So much so that there is thought to be 230,000 HGV licence holders
under the age of 45 not working in the industry. The average age of a UK HGV
driver is now 55. Workers have turned to driving for Amazon, Yodel and other
courier and delivery services, which speaks to how stressful modern HGV driving
has become.

So, the 5,000 three-month visas being offered to EU HGV drivers is both a
ridiculous drop in the ocean but may also not be taken up very quickly given that
there exists a smaller, but significant lack of drivers in Germany, France, Italy
and elsewhere, and frankly, three months' work in the UK with all of the new
bureaucracy to work around is unlikely to sound particularly attractive to many.

The present situation does, however, give lorry drivers and their logistic
support some potential leverage. The Professional Drivers Protest Group, an
unofficial rank and file body, independent of Unite or the United Road Transport
Union, emerged on Facebook earlier this year calling for a £15 per hour minimum
wage, a 45-hour working week, time-and-a-half for overtime and double-time for
Sunday work as well as other changes to working conditions and the group seems to
have some support amongst drivers.

In July this year, the government relaxed maximum working hours, which went from
9 to 10 hours a day, whilst allowing twice weekly 11-hour shifts. Increased
exploitation has increased the anger. Strikes by workers at DHL (distributers for
Sainsburys) and GXO Logistics Drinks Ltd (who supply boozers and other alcohol
outlets) against pitiful pay offers were only just headed off by employers and
unions last month. The present crisis can be turned to the advantage of HGV
drivers and all those involved in logistics and distribution, but it will take
rank and file leadership from the grassroots and innovative action.

https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2021/09/28/the-chickens-come-home-to-roost-but-will-the-turkeys-get-a-reprieve-at-christmas
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