On April 19, 220 people attended a meeting called by the Transport Workers Union (TWU) at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Darling Harbour, over the issue of unsafe contracts negotiated between road freight transport companies and their customers.
Present at the meeting were members and officials from the TWU, representatives from state governments, the Australian Trucking Association, the Health Association, transport authorities and many of the families of the victims of truck accidents, who were able to tell the audience of the very tragic personal impact that this issue has had on their own lives.
The federal government failed to send any representatives to the meeting.
Truck drivers are campaigning for safer conditions and changes of responsibility in the road freight industry to help prevent the continuing loss of life of both truck drivers and the travelling public from preventable road accidents.
According to the TWU, a total of 103 people were killed last year in truck accidents on NSW roads alone.
One of the problems for truckers is that WorkCover has never recognised truck cabins as a workplace, and this has prevented any serious investigation into the causes of these accidents.
The present system forces truck drivers to take unnecessary risks to meet employers' demands in order to keep their jobs. Due to fierce competition in the industry, road freight transport companies often negotiate contracts with customers that contain unrealistic delivery schedules, and that absolve both customers and transport companies of any responsibility for the road accidents that result.
Truck drivers are pressured to accept the schedules out of fear of losing their jobs, but then often have to resort to unsafe practices to complete the work according to the unrealistic schedules. These unsafe practices include routine speeding, the breaking of driving-hour regulations and the taking of stimulants.
After the meeting, about 100 TWU members marched to the Sydney Town Hall for a demonstration and picket outside Woolworths, one of the companies identified as being responsible for negotiating unsafe contracts in the industry, but which has steadfastly refused to talk about the situation with truck drivers since 1996.
With the vocal and enthusiastic support of the members on the street outside, a delegation from the TWU entered the building and presented the truckers case to Woolworths management. Members outside maintained a picket line for two hours until the delegation finally emerged and said the talks had been positive, though Woolworths had not made a definite commitment to anything.
From Green Left Weekly, May 4, 2005.
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