THE EUROPEAN Parliament is to vote tomorrow on a controversial proposal which could see self-employed truck drivers permanently exempted from rules on working hours.
Labour MEP Proinsias De Rossa has called on his fellow Irish MEPs to vote down the proposal in the interest of road safety, fair competition, and health and safety for truck drivers.
“According to a US study, driver fatigue was a factor in 52 per cent of accidents involving heavy goods vehicles,” he said, adding that lorry and coach drivers must also carry out labour-intensive tasks such as loading and vehicle maintenance which contribute to fatigue. “For these reasons, Europe has legislation limiting not only driving time but total working time for professional drivers.”
Mr De Rossa argues that if self-employed drivers are permanently excluded from the working time rules, transport operators will increasingly face unfair competition from companies exploiting “false” self-employed drivers while responsible operators would be unable to compete.
However, independent MEP Marian Harkin said bringing these workers under the working time directive would be hugely damaging to Ireland’s truck transport business and was not supported by the Road Safety Authority, adding that all drivers are subject to the strictly enforced driving time regulations. “Entrepreneurs should be able to organise their own working time,” she said.
A report on the matter to be debated today, drafted by Slovakian MEP Edith Bauer, will support the commission’s approach, arguing that there “is no precedent for regulating the working hours of self-employed people”.