WomenNo sympathy for this needless strike
Tanker drivers responsible for the threat of fuel shortages at your local pumps earn around £36,500 a year at present. The increase that they would rather strike against than take would push them a fair bit closer to £40,000pa.
Now I’m sure that driving around with 8000 gallons of fuel aboard demands responsibility, care and competence. But then so does working as a police officer (salary £25k-£34k), a specialist nurse (£23k-£32k) or as a firefighter (£27k, fully qualified). I picked these jobs because each carries more risk, responsibility (or both) for less money. Put into that context, I don’t feel minded to support the tanker drivers as I would nurses when they complain about their pay.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for one of the employers involved said on BBC radio this morning that every time they advertise for more staff, dozens of applications flood in. Which makes me think that, as lorry driving goes, it’s pretty cushy. Unless I’m missing something major here (and tanker drivers reading this are welcome to chip in below) they collect a load of fuel, and then deliver it: job done. No cross-Continental journeys that are routine for many HGV drivers, and no spells away from home.
And you wonder, don’t you, about how they chose their moment to strike. At a time when prices have sky-rocketed and Scottish oil refinery workers have walked out in a pay dispute, the last thing drivers – and oil companies – want is more trouble. But these drivers have made sure that they’ve got it.
What do you think?
I work as a humble bus driver around North Warwickshire, Coventry and South-West Leicestershire. My daily shifts can be anything from a 4.30am start, to a midnight finish. Additionally, most days I can expect to drive for ten hours spread out across a sixteen hour working day, plus I may have to work Sundays too. I’m trusted to operate a ten tonne forty foot long vehicle through differing leaves of traffic, in all weather conditions, on all types of roads, whilst at the same time keeping upto fifty plus passengers on board safe and try to give them a pleasent journey. The routes I drive differ from local housing estates, upto traversing between Coventry and Leicester. Plus, I have to be careful what time I venture to bed the night before a shift, so I get adequate rest, and virtually no longer touch alcohol at all, just in case it’s still in my system the following morning. For all of this, I am rewarded financially with £23k per annum. And these tanker drivers want how much? Needless to say, I’m not sympathic to their cause at all!