I’ll be on the 08.00 boat that morning as usual . If I miss a Monday then I’m off the whole week . We make promises to our customers to collect and deliver their goods on time . Pay and conditions are good - yes they could be better but they are up there with the best of them . All we have to gain from this is a loss of respect from our customers , as we aren’t a huge company we can’t really compete on price but we do compete on service - ie we do things when we say we are going to do them and it seems to work . We have taken work from companies who just didn’t care when the stuff turned up or what sort of condition it was in all because it was done on a cheapest price - many of our customers have been down the cheapest price route and have seen the lack of care taken with their products , lack of basic strapping down of loads (double stacked pallets of animal feed unstrapped )from Southern England to Northern Ireland = 5-6tons of product destroyed and unmarketable per load , how long does/can a small company put up with that sort of loss ?
I wish those who take part well but feel that if not enough take part those who do will be victimised by employers and agencies (employed strikers will just get basic hours , agency drivers will find the phone will stop ringing as often)