Unions protest at working conditions in road transport sector

Working conditions in the road transport sector in Belgium have long been a source of discontent for the trade unions. The length of lorry drivers' hours, low wages and a lack of control over conditions have all been mentioned as areas of concern. In September 1998, protests at European level once again fueled the Belgian debate.

On 8 September 1998, the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), as part of its worldwide Fatigue kills campaign in the road transport industry (EU9809127F), coordinated protest events on the borders between several European countries (FR9809128F). The main issue at stake was the reduction of working hours in the sector - an issue which has been the subject of intense debate in Belgium for some years.

Belgium is one of the European countries where drivers' hours average more than 60 per week, excluding waiting times. In a number of cases, working hours of more than 100 hours per week have been documented. Increasing the hours of drivers seems to observers to be the only weapon in a sector characterised by extreme competition. This is reinforced by the creation in Belgium of about 300 new sole-trader transport companies per year, regardless of the already existing surplus capacity. This trend is encouraged by the fact that the thresholds for entering the sector are rather low: hardly any financial guarantees or specialist skills are required. In addition, the road transport sector in Belgium does not fall under the system of regulations that forbids the selling of products at a loss. This encourages some companies to work below cost price for particular jobs in order to undercut competitors. From the perspective of the lorry drivers themselves, it appears to be only the tachometer (which registers their working hours) that can provide any form of protection against arduous working conditions. This presupposes, however, that those managing the sector are willing to take the quality of working conditions into consideration, which is certainly not the common practice.

A number of extremely serious and sometimes fatal road accidents have been caused by large lorries driven by overtired drivers, and this has not improved the public image of the sector and those working in it. Tampering with tachometers and ignoring other rules and regulations has allegedly become normal practice across a wide section of the sector.

Over the summer of 1998, Belgium witnessed certain reactions from the lorry drivers themselves, who seem to be fed up with some of their working conditions. There have been reports of Belgian drivers who have voluntarily surrendered themselves to the Dutch police to be fined for violations of regulations on working time. In this way they have been obliged to take a mandatory rest break of between eight or nine hours - such a break, it is claimed, is often not given to them by their employer.

From the point of view of the Belgian drivers, the actions of the ITF and its allies are timely to say the least. Their express wish is to generate a European platform for the protection of their working conditions, a wish that they do not think likely to be fulfilled in the current Belgian context.