Transport - Thames boatmen step up fight
WORKERS, NOV 2006 ISSUE
Following on their lobby of the House of Commons in August over threats to safety on the River Thames, Thames boatmen stepped up their campaign on 17 October. A large passenger boat with banners, Thames skippers, crews, health and safety campaigners and trade unionists brought the campaign noisily to the river side of the Commons.
The problem is a new European Union Directive, which will reduce qualifying service for mariner's licences from five to two years, slash qualifying times for local river knowledge work from two years to six months, scrap mandatory college-based training, and reduce qualifying ages for holding licences for pleasure boats over 40 yards long from 21 to 18.
With the Mayor's Office and the Greater London Authority as well as business all seeking further investment and passenger usage on the Thames as a major way of reducing congestion on London's roads, plans to reduce safety and skill on Britain and Europe's longest tidal river are insane.