Hauliers warn of 'general strike' over fuel

Published on Tuesday 10 June 2008 21:40

HAULIERS have threatened to escalate their action against soaring fuel prices after staging a protest convoy between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Some 85 lorries and a number of taxis took part in the demonstration yesterday, which culminated in drivers marching to the Scottish Parliament on foot.

David McCutcheon, a haulage firm chief who organised the event, warned that action would be intensified if the government failed to cut fuel taxes.

Mr McCutcheon, managing director of Bullet Express, of Blantyre, Lanarkshire, said: "At the moment we have asked this be a peaceful protest. But that won't continue if things are not done to change the situation.

"You are talking about disruption – (lorries] coming out at 7am and going into the centre of towns.

"That's what will happen. There could even be a strike, but that's down to individual hauliers."

The protest took place three weeks before a mass hauliers' lobby at Westminster to coincide with an SNP attempt to have a fuel duty regulator introduced to stabilise prices. It also followed a demonstration by hundreds of truckers in London last month.

Meanwhile, widespread action has erupted abroad. Striking Spanish lorry drivers yesterday clogged roads leading into Madrid and other cities in a second day of action over rising fuel costs. In Hong Kong, hundreds of lorry drivers marched to government headquarters and staged go-slows to disrupt traffic.

Protesters also took to the streets in India and Nepal, while South Korean truckers threatened a nationwide strike.

Phil Flanders, the Scotland director of the Road Haulage Association, which is organising next month's protest at Westminster, said: "There is anger and frustration, and things will start getting out of hand when firms start going out of business.

"Companies are already reducing their vehicle fleets and having to pay for their fuel every two weeks rather than monthly. Everyone is struggling with cashflow."

Another of yesterday's protesters, Jim Macauley, who runs Cadzow Heavy Haulage in Blantyre, said fuel had increased from a third to half of its costs, and the firm had cut two lorries from its 16-strong fleet because of a fall in housebuilding.

He added: "People are prepared to take militant action. The Spanish are blocking roads and it will come to that here eventually. This country is heading for meltdown and a general strike.

"This is not just a bunch of truck-drivers looking after their own ends. We're out to fight the cost of fuel, which is affecting the whole economy."

However, environmental groups warned hauliers their industry would have to adjust to rising fuel prices.

Duncan McLaren, the chief executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: "Rather than giving in to the protesters and subsidising fuel costs, the government should be investing in sustainable transport alternatives such as improved rail facilities for freight transport."

Hauliers taking part in yesterday's protest travelled on the M74 and M8 from Strathclyde Country Park before being met by Stewart Stevenson, the transport minister, at Holyrood. He told them: "We will make sure this message gets across."

Police said there had been minimal traffic disruption.