The ITF International Road Transport Action Week: 10-16 October 2005

By ITF

The highly successful annual ITF Road Transport Action Day Campaign, which has been organised since 1997 under the slogan "Fatigue Kills!" was expanded into an Action Week for the first time in 2005.

The Annual Meeting of the ITF Road Transport Workers' Section held on 6-8 June 2005 in London resolved to organise an Action Week in October this year in order to allow many unions to organise a wider range of activities, both nationally and regionally.

The Action Week will be closely tied to affiliates' efforts to organise the unorganised.

Professional drivers from across southern England converged on Dover on 14 October to drive home the message that fatigue kills. The action, part of an international week of action by transport workers, was organised by the Transport and General Workers' Union to reinforce the union's message that long hours means tired drivers and tired drivers are more of a killer on the roads than drunk drivers. Speaking ahead of the day of action Ron Webb, the union's national secretary for transport, said: 'All the surveys and reports I've ever seen show that drivers working long hours behind the wheel put them and other road users at an increased risk of a fatal or other serious accident. That's why our campaign is as relevant today as it always has been.' The union is calling for better conditions for professional drivers, including decent roadside facilities, especially toilets and sleeping accommodation, rigorous enforcement of health and safety regulations, and proper recording and recognition of fatalities as workplace deaths. 'This union remains convinced that a shorter working week with drivers properly recognised by all not some employers and their clients are the best ways to start really reducing deaths on the road,' said Ron Webb. 'We are a fighting back union and we need to fight for our rights and to raise standards across the industry.' Women members of the union are using global action week to launch a campaign to improve toilet facilities for drivers, particularly on bus routes.