Bosses Shift The Blame Onto Workers

By Peter Craig

Midway through last month, the resolution of one of the more infamous criminal cases of recent years saw truck driver Mohinder Singh sentenced to 22 years in prison. Having pled guilty to four counts of culpable driving causing death, as well as a handful of drug-related crimes, the bourgeois state demands that Mr. Singh must surrender two decades of his life to the penal system as recompense. In response, those of us who fight for workers everywhere must argue that Mr. Singh is no cold-blooded killer but rather, a victim – a worker in an industry rife with ruthless exploitation, and an employee at a business that stands accused of all manner of unsafe and predatory practices. To those politicians and journalists loudly mourning the four fallen Victorian police officers, and to the prosecutors who led the punitive charge while those same onlookers bayed for blood, we must say: if treating workers poorly was illegal, chances are all four would still be alive.

The fatal accident that took place on the 22nd of April last year on Melbourne’s Eastern Freeway would never have occurred if the trucking industry was not one of intense pressure and hyper-exploitation by companies such as Mr. Singh’s employer, Connect Logistics. Indeed, shortly after the incident authorities raided three properties linked to the company, including their Sydney head office.[1] As this article is being written, CL manager in Victoria Simiona Tuteru is in court fighting manslaughter charges, as well as various alleged breaches of heavy vehicle regulations, including directing Mr. Singh to work while fatigued, and multiple counts of “obtaining financial advantage through time sheets submitted in a false name to hide the real number of hours worked”.

In total, Mr. Tuteru is facing 82 charges, the majority of the allegations relating to cutting corners on safety and falsification of records in the name of profit.[2] Following investigation of Connect Logistic’s 61 vehicle fleet by police and Transport for NSW, two heavy vehicles were issued major defects, and a further 17 vehicles and trailers were issued minor defects. 16 drivers were also issued infringements for various fatigue and work diary administration breaches.[3] As of time of writing, no management other than Mr. Tuteru, let alone any capitalists, have suffered any criminal consequence for the company’s clear disregard for safety. As is standard operating procedure across all capitalist society, the owners reap the rewards while the workers suffer the consequences.

And this is far from an isolated case. The trucking industry is the number one employer of Australian men.[4] It is also one of the most dangerous, unhealthy, high-pressure and exploitative environments in which a worker may find themselves. After all the tears and column inches poured out for officers Humphris, Prestney, King, and Taylor, one wonders if there are any left to spare for the 53 truck drivers who died at the wheel in 2019 alone.[5] The National Police Memorial Honour Roll lists the names of 798 police officers going back over two centuries.[6] The trucking industry has racked up almost a quarter of that number in driver fatalities since just 2017.[7]

“If treating workers poorly was illegal, chances are all four would still be alive.”

Beyond the fatalities, a recent survey conducted by Monash University has shed light on just how badly transportation workers suffer to keep Australian society moving, and Australian capital flowing. A survey of almost 1,400 drivers conducted by Monash University found over a third of drivers reported working over 60 hours a week. Over half were obese. Over a third had been diagnosed back problems, a quarter high blood pressure, and almost a fifth reported a diagnosis of anxiety or depression in the last year. Half of all respondents reported having some level of psychological distress. Over 70% reported experiencing “near-misses” on average once per week. Short-haul drivers reported significantly higher levels of psychological distress, while long-haul drivers were more likely to be obese and report pain lasting more than 12 months. Interestingly, owner drivers were more likely to report very good health when compared to employee drivers.[8] Little wonder then that Australia is experiencing a national shortage of truck drivers, a trend that is expected to worsen due to an ageing workforce.[9]

The dangers of trucking have also been proven to be tied to economic factors. Research by the Monash University Accident Research Centre has found that performance-based compensation – paying drivers by the load or kilometre – is associated with work practices that cause fatigue.[10] A 2008 report by the National Transport Commission found “economic factors create an incentive for truck drivers to drive fast, work long hours and use illicit substances to stay awake. These economic factors include, low rates of pay, incentive-based payment methods (such as per kilometre or per trip), unpaid working time and demurrage. Other factors include the hyper-competitive nature of the industry and the low bargaining power faced by drivers.”[11]

The fight against bosses for workers’ rights and safety is ongoing. Drivers supported by the Transport Workers Union have in recent years taken actions against supermarket giant Aldi, accusing the company of sacrificing safety in order to cut costs. Aldi took the issue to the Federal Court, which threw out the company’s charge of “misleading and deceptive conduct”, stating: “The pressure put on drivers transporting Aldi goods inevitably, but regrettably, occasioned contraventions by drivers of safety standards imposed by Aldi.” Coles and Woolworths have previously signed safety charters with the TWU.[12]

With enterprise bargaining agreements of major trucking companies including Toll, Linfox, StarTrack and FedEx due to expire in June, National Secretary Michael Kaine used strong language in his recent TWU National Council address in Darwin: “For those retailers who think they can keep squeezing transport companies and their workforces, think again. You are about to face a winter of discontent, followed by a spring offensive … prepare for sit-ins, protests and all manner of fun and games. I am not threatening disruption. I am promising it.”[13]

Exactly what form any action driven by the TWU will take remains to be seen. For those of us on the revolutionary left, the long ties between the union and the ALP’s right faction – senators Tony Sheldon and Alex Gallacher are both former TWU officials, and the TWU is a powerful force in the Victorian Right – should make us question the union’s long-term strategy. The case of the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal is indicative as to why workers cannot rely on concessions handed down by bourgeois parliaments.

Established in 2012 to set pay rates for truck drivers, act as a road safety watchdog and negotiate disputes between drivers and employers, the RSRT was a great achievement for workers in the industry. However, it survived a scant four years before being scrapped by the Turnbull government, despite union action against such a move. A stronger political movement of the workers, not dragged down by the sort of factional infighting that are the TWU’s Labor Right allies bread and butter, is what is required to win more lasting gains for the working class.

Capitalism cannot function without the constant movement of commodities. Indeed, society would grind to a halt without the labour of truck drivers. According to the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics, over three quarters of Australia’s non-bulk freight is carried on roads. BITRE also predicts Australia’s national land freight task is expected to grow by around 75 per cent between 2011 and 2031.[14] One only need observe events of the preceding pandemic-affected year to note the huge effects of even the slightest disruption in global or national supply chains. This places huge power in the hands of transport workers, as the keystone bearing the load of so much of the capitalist economy. Workers in this sector, led not by opportunists and careerists whose strategy is bounded by the limits set upon it by bourgeois politics, but by true revolutionaries with a strong ideological stance, would be one of the greatest weapons in the confrontation with capital, not just for their own emancipation and rights, but for those of the whole working class. It is our duty as communists to lead these workers away from the opportunists, so that together we may take aim at our class enemy.

References

[1]https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/news/trucking-company-connect-logistics-raided-over-police-deaths/news-story/f1a32743b365cc5cb8838268ee4c8935

[2]https://thewest.com.au/news/melbourne/trucking-boss-simiona-tuteru-to-fight-82-charges-related-to-crash-that-killed-four-melbourne-police-officers-ng-b881745966z

[3]https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2020/05/14/connect-logistics-safety-breaches/

[4]https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/report/Driving_Health_Study_Report_No_4_Use_of_pharmaceuticals_following_work-related_injury_and_illness_in_Australian_truck_drivers_/13315952

[5]https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-20/steep-increase-in-truck-driver-deaths-described-as-tragedy/12266902

[6]https://npm.org.au/honour-roll/

[7]https://www.twu.com.au/press/truckies-to-tell-senate-inquiry-of-horror-crash-deaths-and-armed-hold-ups/

[8]https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/report/Driving_Health_Study_Report_No_6_Survey_of_the_physical_and_mental_health_of_Australian_professional_drivers_/13315961

[9]https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-16/truck-driver-shortage-looms-large/100139772

[10]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266797765_Associations_Between_Heavy-Vehicle_Driver_Compensation_Methods_Fatigue-Related_Driving_Behavior_and_Sleepiness

[11]https://www.ntc.gov.au/sites/default/files/assets/files/Safe-payments-report-October-2008.pdf

[12]https://www.twu.com.au/safe-rates/the-problem-with-aldi/

[13]https://www.twu.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/MK-Speech-2021.pdf

[14]https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/infrastructure/publications/files/Trends_to_2040.pdf