Union rule upsets transport employers

Press, 4 December 1985, Page 12

Union rule upsets transport employers

PA Auckland Road transport employers are upset at an Auckland trade union requirement that truck owner-drivers join a new association — the Owner Operators’ Association. The owner-drivers, who cannot join the Northern Drivers’ Union because they are self-employed, must produce a card costing $25 for three months before having trucks loaded at some Auckland work sites. The Road Transport Association, a group of employers and owner-drivers, said that many drivers appealed for help after being forced to join the new association against their will. A spokesman for the association said that most of the 3000 owner-drivers in New Zealand belonged to his group. The Northern Drivers’ Union issues the card which proves membership of the Owner Operators’ Associa-

tion, a loosely knit group which is not registered as a union and has no offices or secretariat A spokesman for the association, Mr Graham Mita, said that membership fees did not yield enough money to fund a full-time staff. The union acted as the association’s agent Mr Mita said that funds from membership dues were paid into a trust fund operated by the union, which helped pay for work the association did on the drivers’ behalf. He said that the deregulation of the road transport industry, combined with a trend for companies to avoid the high capital cost of replacing fleets by drawing up contracts for owneroperated transport, made the fledgling association necessary. . “It is not a union jackup,” he said. “In fact, the whole basis of it is the reverse.” The secretary of the Northern Drivers’ Union, Mr

Bill Andersen, said . that there were “quite a number” of sites in Auckland where a driver without the ticket would be refused a load. .. . “We will increase that pressure in response to employers’ pressure on many wages-drivers to become owner-operators or go down the roaa,” he said. . The policy was endorsed by the distribution unions and the Federation of Labour. “We will not have ownerdrivers working for catsmeat contracts because it makes it difficult for wages-drivers to make a living,” said Mr Andersen.. The move was not sum usual. Employers were making a “big fuss” over a policy which was in the public interest because it. stopped exploitation. Mr Andersen said that the union supported drivers in enforcing fair contracts with employers in return for drivers respecting picket lines. '