The Daily Mail is saying Unions are to blame for DVLA backlog of HGV Licenses

[Serene]

I was looking at the funny papers online with my Coffee this morning and saw this.

DVLA office half empty thanks to militant union, writes GUY ADAMS

Rush hour in Swansea, and on the roads leading to the headquarters of the DVLA, the city's biggest workplace, traffic jams are conspicuous by their absence.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Being ignorant of this, my thoughts were that this is made up by the Tory press in order to make Unions look bad. We are in a period of time where strikes may very well start to happen, and I was wondering if the Tories are having a pre-emptive propagana in the owned media to make people distrust and dislike Unions.
I noticed a Daily Mail comment from a gammon calling the Unions traitors.
As I posted, I am ignorant of this and wonder if anyone with facts can throw light upon it?

 

[Serge Forward]

I can only say, I wish unions had that kind of clout. Just the usual swivel eyed DM bollocks.

 

[platinumsage]

Doesn’t William of Walworth work there? William, is the HVG driver shortage entirely your fault or something to do with poor management?

 

[planetgeli]

HGV shortage has coincided with William of Walworth being off sick so it's probably entirely his fault.

Just saying.

 

[prunus]

The Daily Mail can fuck off.

What was the question again?

 

[cupid_stunt]

Well there's certainly been strikes at the DVLA, so hardly surprising the Mail is blaming the unions rather than management William of Walworth.

 

[Serene]

I didnt know there has been strikes. When was that?

 

[StoneRoad]

the f*****g DM can F888 off with their anti-union ballcocks.

The delays are [more likely] due to the combination a) lack of testers and b) lack of medicals and c) covid
not to mention austerity cuts to staffing at the DVLA.

there are loads of reasons why drivers are leaving ...


TiG - lorry drivers leaving because ... par StoneRoad2013, on ipernity

 

[Serene]

the f*****g DM can F888 off with their anti-union ballcocks.

The delays are [more likely] due to the combination a) lack of testers and b) lack of medicals and c) covid
not to mention austerity cuts to staffing at the DVLA.

there are loads of reasons why drivers are leaving ...


TiG - lorry drivers leaving because ... par StoneRoad2013, on ipernity

Also Brexit? Because a lot of HGV drivers have gone back to the EU leaving Britain very short of HGV drivers. A hundred thousand short if I remember. Cameron is to blame for Brexit and he is a Tory.

 

[marty21]

I currently work in a council office which can accommodate well over a thousand folk , at the height of the pandemic there were maybe 100 in , now it's probably 300 on a busy day (usually Thursday ) despite having nothing to do with the DVLA or lorry drivers (I guess Councils have some involvement in parking) We'll take some of the blame for lorry driver shortages as well.

 

[Smokeandsteam]

Don’t the DVSA do driving tests and not the DVLA?

 

[Serene]

In my ignorance of Unions, I wonder if there is anyone whom is qualified to post, concisely, and in Laymans terms, as to why the Unions have comparatively little power these days?

 

[AnnaKarpik]

That article, repeated verbatim all over the place, implies that absence from the office equates to absence from work. Bollox. The scarcity of staff in the office is due to the union expecting a safe working environment for the staff and failing, so far, to reach an agreement. So I think if you want to apportion blame, it's down to the DVLA who are not able/willing to provide a safe environment for staff.

 

[marty21]

In my ignorance of Unions, I wonder if there is anyone whom is qualified to post, concisely, and in Laymans terms, as to why the Unions have comparatively little power these days?

Basically the Tories , series of anti Union legislation following the miner's strike in the 80s, not overturned by Blair & Brown .

 

[Serene]

Basically the Tories , series of anti Union legislation following the miner's strike in the 80s, not overturned by Blair & Brown .

Thank you for your reply, it has educated myself. Anti-Union Legislation!! That is awful. Thats making Laws to stop people having rights!! Again, I thank you for your reply, it was helpful to me.

 

[marty21]

Although I think union membership is on the rise again, which is heartening, and some Unions still weld power (transport workers in London, and rail Unions nationwide)

 

[Serene]

Although I think union membership is on the rise again, which is heartening, and some Unions still weld power (transport workers in London, and rail Unions nationwide)

This has to happen. People need to join Unions, or employers are going to have us back in Victorian times.

 

[Smokeandsteam]

In my ignorance of Unions, I wonder if there is anyone whom is qualified to post, concisely, and in Laymans terms, as to why the Unions have comparatively little power these days?

1. The sections of the economy where unions were well organised have largely either declined or been offshored.
2. Unions have failed to organise effectively in new sections of the economy: in particular areas dominated by women and minorities and hyper exploitive terms and conditions
3. The defeat of the miners = the defeat of the organised working class and the raft of anti union laws introduced by Thatcher and guarded by successive governments including new labour

 

[Serene]

1. The sections of the economy where unions were well organised have largely either declined or been offshored.
2. Unions have failed to organise effectively in new sections of the economy: in particular areas dominated by women and minorities and hyper exploitive terms and conditions
3. The defeat of the miners = the defeat of the organised working class and the raft of anti union laws introduced by Thatcher and guarded by successive governments including new labour

Thank you for your reply. I have learned something today. I have something to think about at work today.

 

[Fairweather]

A twat I work with was ranting about Unions the other week. I showed him this and told him to fuck off.

 

[Smokeandsteam]

Thank you for your reply. I have learned something today. I have something to think about at work today.

No bother Serene. If you are interested in what might do about it I recommend the book discussed here:

The Power of Deep Organizing

Jane McAlevey's No Shortcuts provides a dynamic framework for building union power.

www.jacobinmag.com

 

[Serene]

Ty for replies. I will read them when I get back from work.

 

[MickiQ]

I suspect most Daily Mail readers don't really swallow this guff either but the problem is not people blaming unions/elites/lefties/Jews etc but the fact that amazingly they continue to not blame the decisions made by the floppy haired one and his dodgy mates.

 

[ska invita]

I suspect most Daily Mail readers don't really swallow this guff either

Why do you suspect that?

 

[MickiQ]

Why do you suspect that?

Because it's nonsense that doesn't stand up to much critical thought? People don't read the Daily Mail (or the Guardian or the Morning Star) for news, they read them for opinions that most closely match their own pre-existing social and political narratives.
I expect a few howls of outrage and denial from certain posters on these forums but all the Daily Mail readers I know tend to be fairly intelligent and successful people and quite capable of the degree of critical thinking needed to see through such stories, they're largely not interested in doing so.
The more you have to gain from maintaining the status quo, the more enthusiastic you tend to get in defending it.

 

[ska invita]

Because it's nonsense that doesn't stand up to much critical thought? People don't read the Daily Mail (or the Guardian or the Morning Star) for news, they read them for opinions that most closely match their own pre-existing social and political narratives.
I expect a few howls of outrage and denial from certain posters on these forums but all the Daily Mail readers I know tend to be fairly intelligent and successful people and quite capable of the degree of critical thinking needed to see through such stories, they're largely not interested in doing so.
The more you have to gain from maintaining the status quo, the more enthusiastic you tend to get in defending it.

anecdotal evidence on the handful of people who you know read the Mail and what you speculate they see through doesnt hold water to me

 

[Sue]

1. The sections of the economy where unions were well organised have largely either declined or been offshored.
2. Unions have failed to organise effectively in new sections of the economy: in particular areas dominated by women and minorities and hyper exploitive terms and conditions
3. The defeat of the miners = the defeat of the organised working class and the raft of anti union laws introduced by Thatcher and guarded by successive governments including new labour

4. People move jobs much more frequently than in the past and the community aspect (people living near to/socialising with people they work with) has massively declined.

 

[stavros]

Some of it may be down to the DM now being edited by Europhile Geordie Greig, and so he wants an alternative scapegoat.

Not that his nemesis and predecessor Paul Dacre was ever a champion of unions.

 

[ViolentPanda]

The Daily Mail - & its sister publication The Mail on Sunday - lick smegma from the cocks of male roadkill.

 

[ViolentPanda]

A twat I work with was ranting about Unions the other week. I showed him this and told him to fuck off.

Less permanent than stabbing him, I guess!