Given the lack of progress in the negotiations between the EU and the UK (see EUROPE 12569/13), the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) wrote to the Commission’s Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom (UKTF) on Monday 28 September to express its concerns about the working conditions of professional drivers.
“Our workforce must not pay the price for the UK government’s errors in managing Brexit!”, says the ETF.
Citing the “chaos” ahead, the organisation points out that after 11 hours of waiting at the border, drivers will have no choice but to continue their driving activities. The organisation therefore fears a deterioration in their already precarious working conditions.
The ETF is also concerned that the IT systems used by drivers will not be ready by the end of the transition period on 31 December. “Will coach and truck drivers face personal fines if they are found travelling to ports without the correct electronic documentation?”, asks the organisation.
Finally, it addresses the issue of the 29 parking areas that the British government has committed to building in the country, but the locations of which have not even been announced.
It is very likely that these parking areas are not equipped, the ETF warns, denouncing it as a “stitch-up solution”.
Consult the letter: https://bit.ly/36iKb1h (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)