Waterways - Thames campaign rebuffed
WORKERS, FEB 2007 ISSUE
The government has ignored the campaign by Thames skippers, crews, health and safety campaigners and trade unionists to not implement an EU Directive which will reduce safety and training qualifications for Thames freight and passenger traffic.
Effectively, 450 years of regulation has been removed to implement a one size fits all EU directive, a directive which has seen significant exemptions elsewhere in Europe on comparable though smaller rivers.
The government's position is diametrically opposed to those who work the river and who have consistently warned over the safety risks resulting from reducing training and experience. So diametrically opposed are the views that a tragedy will have to happen before this deaf government responds.
The precedent already exists in the numbers of deaths and injuries on the railways since deregulation and privatisation, all predicted by the rail unions, all ignored by those implementing EU directives.