Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Lance Gush: Workers First Union Organiser on the call to ease time pressures on truck drivers

Transcript

Lance Gush: Workers First Union Organiser on the call to ease time pressures on truck drivers · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Exhausted truck drivers say they're being pushed to speed, skip brakes,
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: and bend the law just to keep the freight moving
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: in this great country of ours. Unions warn the cutthroat
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: industry of slashing safety and putting everybody on the road
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: at risk. So Lance Gush is from the Workers First Union,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: he's an organizer, joins you this morning, Good morning to
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: your Lance.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Andrew, how are you good?
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: How did you find out that the conditions are this bad?
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: Our role is to advocate and support represent drivers and
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: working in amongst them and getting a field for the industry.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: There's a lot of pressure put on them to deliver
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: on time and full but certainly unacceptable time limits.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: Okay, well, why are these conditions so bad?
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: The system set up to give all the power to
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: the large companies that are paying these freight companies to
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: move their goods, and effectively they're in control. Pre companies
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: are undercutting each other to get the contracts because we'll
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: live in a small country and it's super competitive. We've
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: had examples of companies that have had to hit drop
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: just to maintain and keep the contracts. They've had to
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: drop three vehicles out of a ninety vehicle fleet expect
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: with the expectation to provide the same service and deliver
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: the same amount of products.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: Well, if the margins are so tight for the frasers,
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: they can't really afford to have more drivers, which will
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: be the answer to the problem. So what is there
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: an answer?
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: Save Freights is a campaign that's global and what it
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: does is it effectively sets a bottom line or a
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: floor that they are unable to go below. It's mandated
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: by the government and produce quarterly and effectively. It says
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: that this is the fifth strate of providing these services,
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: and that way it gives a level playing field for
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: the companies that are tendering for these agreements.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: So they have to change their conditions voluntarily.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: This system will mean that the government mandates it and
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: regulates it, and that way, the larger businesses that are
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: providing this or that are driving this are unable to
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: be offered anything less than the floor.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: Are people still wanting to become truckies or is there
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: a shortage?
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: Look, we were experiencing a shortage. You know, I live
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: in Auckland. Everyone here knows that there's seems to be
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: a lot more heavy vehicles on the road so, but
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: I think the model is changing. From what we can see,
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: it seems like businesses are moving away from having permanent
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: employees and moving more towards either the owner driver models
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: or the use of contractors to try and mitigate losses.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: Is really what that comes down to.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: Sounds like you're on the road right now, are you.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: I'm literally on my way to catch up with seventy
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: of my drivers I represent. We're heading into baggining and
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: just wanting to get a feel for what a fear
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: and reasonable pay increase would look like for them in
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: this one.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: All right, all right, we'll give them, give them my best,
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: and thank you so much for keeping all the goods
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: on the roads and keeping the economy moving. And I
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: thank you for your time. That a lands Gush the
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: Workers First union organizer.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: For more from early edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: to news Talks it'd be from five am weekdays, or
• 3:31
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