The Germans and French are saying we have the “British Disease” by wanting to work long hours, Funny old thing is that in the 70’s the Germans and French said the “British Disease” was because we didn’t want to work.
Basically they want to bring us in line with the rest of Europe’s policy as they all work short hours, But look at their economy it’s crap and they are having real problems with it. They can afford to live on short hours they get paid a lot more, most of the stuff they buy is cheaper, less tax’s, thats why their economy 's are crap, their unemployment rate is higher than the UK’s.
Whereas the UK economy is a bit better because we pay more tax which fills the governments coffers and makes it look good, But we all have to work longer hours to earn a decent living. Funny how the British Euro Labour MP’s voted for it but the Conservatives were against it.
Plain Jealousy thats what it is because the UK is doing better then them and they want to drag us down.
Bones:
from what i gather this the the working time regulation that applies to all employment this is not the working time directive we have just been introduced to. up until now most employers/employees have signed out or opted out of this but they are trying to get this clause removed so you cant opt out. (though it will be three years!)This is why on all the job centre website ads you used to see “this posisition is covered/not covered by the working time regulations”
so at the moment as far as i can see its buisness as usuall for us.
I don’t think it will be.
The original draft of the WTD as applied to road haulage was the actual way it is applied across the EU. Periods of Availability were a concession to the road haulage SPECIFIC TO THE UK. If we are forced to implement the WTD word for word as defined by the EU the periods of availability will no longer be there. It’ll be 48 hour working week excluding breaks.
Pat Hasler:
[no wonder France didn’t help us liberate Iraq, they didn’t even help us liberate France
If anyone wondered why I got all het up over this quote from Pat, check this out:
This picture was taken by me yesterday at Oradour sur Glane. These old men are Maquisards, Fighters of the Resistance. In 1944 the Resistance attacked all over France German reinforcements rushing to Normandie to resist the D-Day landings.
On the 10th of June 1944 the SS slaughtered almost the entire population of Oradour, 642 people including 193 children by machine gun and burning (yes, some weren’t shot but burnt to death) in reprisal for the blowing of bridges etc.
These men did their duty to help the Allied cause, they knew what might happen because the day before in Tulle the same SS Division hanged 99 fighters and civilians from lamp posts.
The picture shows the honour guard of Maquisards and their banners from many villages in the area marching from the church. This is a ruin, as is all the rest of the village, because after all the women and children had been herded into it and machine gunned, it was barricaded and set on fire. One woman escaped.
These brave men by their selfless actions and the sacrifice of many saved countless Allied lives in Normandie and elsewhere and don’t need moronic statements from across the Atlantic to attempt to devalue it.
Sorry if some think that this is off thread, but we were talking about the WTD and the power of Europe. If anything should convince us of the need for unity in this continent, nearly 60 years of comparitive stability should do so.
Salut, David.
I must admit that the resistance fighters were a very brave lot and did a lot to help the cause…but considering the total population of france at the time…i wonder how many freedom fighters there actually were…
Anyway back to the WTD.
As has been said many times…it seems that we are the only country sticking to the rules…or made to stick to the rules…On my trips back and forth to spain it seems that the Spanish and Portuguese are the worst …their vehicles are limited to a much faster limit (90kms) and they flout the rules everytime…i know because i often speak to the drivers …their bosses tell them to get the job done regardless…and of course using refrigerated trucks to carry dry goods with the fridge running…not such a cause for alarm cos the brits do it as well…there are a lot of drivers out there who flout the rules…running excessive hours…for who…and for what…but hey…this is transport…
I think the bit Lucy was referring to was
Section 7: More about the application of the regulations
- Relevant agreements
These can be either a collective agreement or work force agreement.
In general, employers and workers can agree to extend the reference period for the average 48-hour working time limit up to 26 weeks and agree whether this will be monitored using a fixed or rolling method. Agreements can also be used to exceed the 10-hour limit for night work.
These agreements can be made by ‘collective agreement’ (between the employer and an independent trade union) or a ‘workforce agreement’. If a worker has any part of their conditions determined by a collective agreement they can not be subject to a workforce agreement.
A workforce agreement is made with elected representatives of the workforce in most cases (see below). A workforce agreement can apply to the whole workforce or to a group of workers. The conditions relating to a workforce agreement are as follows:
and as has already been stated, a group can, conceiveably, consist of one where an individual has sole responsibility for a particular run or contract, etc.
That’s the barsteward!!! 
Cheers, Ken. 
Dont forget that if your “collective workmates” all agree to opt out of the 10 hour night rule you CAN individually opt back in, but your employer can ask for up to 3 months notice for you to do so.
Wonder how come it was the bunch that manage to ignore their own working week rules when it suits them that voted for us to lose our option to overtime… 
Lucy:
barsteward!!!
Isnt there a trucknet law about altering swear works to get past the filter 
simon
There is…but use of totally innocent and clean substitutes instead is positively encouraged. 
SimonRS2K:
Lucy:
barsteward!!!
Coming on here is worse than being at home. 