'We can bring the government down': Truckers vow to halt Britain's traffic in support of striking

Originally posted by PrinceDreamer
This thread has left me feeling very confused, or I should say has left me feeling many others replying to the post are a little confused. What is taking place is nothing to do with eh amount of tax we pay on fuel, or even on the cost of fuel. It is to do with truckers coming out in support of other truckers who are demanding more pay.

You have to remember, that the drivers who are originally coming out on strike, or at least threatening to do so are only fuel tanker drivers. They want better conditions and more pay. Now these guys are not on minimum wage, I think the average wage for them is around £35,000 (That is about $50,000) a year. Considering what the vast majority are earning in this country it is a fairly good wage.

Anyway the point being they want more and are threatening to strike. No if they do strike it will cause disruption for a lot of people who need their cars, whether or not you support the strike is irrelevant, that will happen. So the government has said it will call in the army to ensure essential supplies get through, and as much as I hate our government, that does seem the sensible thing for them to try and do.

however the other truck drivers see this as a strike breaking action, and so to prevent the army getting out those essential supplies they are threatening to block the entrances to the refinery's and some motorways. Which to be honest I don't feel I can support, because I don't really support the fuel tanker drivers demanding more money and holding the country to ransom.

Now if the truck drivers were to stark blocking roads, demanding the cost of fuel comes down, or to help force changes in other policy matters such as thee decimation of our NHS, or even just in general to destroy our current government which really needs to go, then yes I would fully support it, if they were to do it to stop them raiding our pensions then yes I could back it, but because a few well paid people want more, then no I cannot support it.

Excellent post. Further to that, keep in mind also that whilst truck driving is not 'easy' (I don't think i'd be able to do it - away from home for long periods, living in a lorry cabin) its not a job that requires years of study. If you are happy to drive for a living, its not a very bad living at all.

I AM FULLY SUPPORTIVE OF THIS WELL DONE MOTHER TRUCKERS.

This bull# about certain areas where you may protest F that. I feel a bit of William Wallace coming on.

af.reuters.com...

Here is the reuters post, in case anyone cares for it.

OK for what they are worth here are my thoughts on this

Would love to see the truckers get behind this, but guess what it wont happen. Unions in the UK Are a bunch of toothless dinosaurs that want to take up back to the utopia that was the 1970s. Most of the union leaders I have come accross in my time are militant thickets who are only interested in being union leaders or reps to look after themselves, never mind the members.

if you look at the bigger picture you can see that the Govt have got all the sheep where they want them. nevermind what they say the fuel shortage was manipulated by the govt and mainstream media to get stocks of fuel out of the petrol stations and into cars so that when the drivers do strike the effects are limited as the stocks inthe stations will have been replenished by then. And we the public fell for it.

Lets not forget what the fuel shortage covered up. Cash for questions and the pasty tax!

There is no way that the public will influence the Tory toffs and liberal wannabes that are currently in power.

If the unions got there act together and worked as one then we might have a chance. A General strike from the drivers unions and unison and all other unions at the same time could do something but then the govt will just ride roughshod over it. There is one area where we could have power and that would be at the olympics. A General strike then might make some people listen if it was timed to fit in with the greatest show on earth.

Its time to realise politicians are not in it for the public but in it for themselves. as Billy Connolly once said "The desire to be a politician should stop a person from ever becoming one"

reply to post by EvanB


Excellent! The grand power of organized labor.

What? You think corporations are going to care about you? Wow. Join the Tea Party then.

Well I'm glad you quoted from a quality British daily newspaper. Anyone who believes anything written in that paper needs a lobotomy. lol

The tanker drivers are not striking for money but conditions, ie bringing in untrained staff to drive what is essentially a giant petrol bomb.

If truckers are going out in support, we must be due another disease outbreak. Cast your mind back to 2000 when shortly after the farmers joined in the strikes, we had a foot and mouth outbreak.

Foot and Mouth Outbreak

Also fuel lobby groups have since been infiltrated

Spying on groups

I have stated before that I do not "currently" advocate a violent revolution of any kind, but I have progressed in my political/economic education enough to know that acts like this are what it will take, not just in the UK, but in America as well. In the end I will advocate a revolution, IFF the people decide to throw out capitalism altogether. If not, then a revolution is probably not necessary, although lives may still be lost. That is looking at the big picture, and I know that sounds abstract and distant, and I apologize.

So if we simply want to improve our current economic and political system, but just increasing corporate regulation, and making the politicians and corporations answerable to the people...OR bringing down large businesses slowly, replacing them with smaller, cooperative companies...There are different ideas, but the point is that revolution need not apply in many of these cases, and really and truly is not worth it just to alter the current system. A revolution is for change...Complete change in many senses, although not in the sense of freedom and democracy, obviously...Hopefully.

Any nation that uses trucks to move goods and supplies from one place to another can shutdown their country. Here in the U.S. our own trucking industry pulled this stunt a long time ago to prove that they could do it. The problem is they always end the strike when they get what they want, which is usually a reduction in permits, business tax, fuel tax etc. Nothing to get all excited about.

Originally posted by Bob Sholtz
reply to post by DaTroof

 

because standing within the government designated areas holding signs while being pepper sprayed is definitely the way to get things done.

peaceful protests work only when the government cares about what the people think.

The government will begin to care when industrial production comes to a stand still... thats how strikes work.

well the lorry drivers definatley have the upper hand since most goods are delivered by roads today.
although things were changing back in the 50s and 60s most goods were delivered by rail.
that doesnt happen these days.
if the lorry drivers were to strike or even go slow they could cause some serious economic problems and quite quickly too

Originally posted by EvanB
reply to post by VoidHawk

 

Actually I think the average Brit will support this action imo... Been a long time coming as you say..

No, not really. You haven't stated the purpose of the strike and who the union are holding to account have you? I think you'll find it's not the government, but go for it, list the reasons for the strike. The union isn't saying it's to 'bring the government down', it's actually about working restrictions imposed by the firms they are moving the petrol/diesel on behalf of as far as has been said.

Originally posted by josephamccoy
reply to post by fakedirt

 

ahh george galloway, he is one of the few politicians that i like (despite the whole "would you like me to be the cat" incident) and he seems to be a more level headed politician (david mitchell was way out of his depth when he interviewed him on the 10 O'clock show), sometimes though i can't help but think that george is sometimes only in it for himself, he's still miles better than the others. i just have a hard time trusting any politician. all politicians do is set budgets and declare war. they never solve problems.

example:-
if there were some stairs that were very dangerous to use what would be the solution?
Politicians answer- blame the carpenter and put a sign up.
Real solution- tear those stairs down and build new ones.

it's a crude metaphor but i think it communicates my point sufficiently.

he rattled labour enough to get rid of him. teflon must have been having a nightmare with the touchy feely approach to george! the guy has been a voice for the voiceless regarding the convoys to palestine in the face of fierce opposition. he speaks a lot of common sense and imo understands the issues when interviewers try and press him. lol at the interview (post bradford west) on sky when boulton tried his very best to put him in a questionable light. as george was rebutting various loaded questions i had to laugh at the body language boulton was showing. it said everything and is a rare thing to behold the interviewer clearly uncomfortable with arms waving around.
f.

Originally posted by JonoEnglish

Originally posted by josephamccoy
reply to post by fakedirt

 

example:-
if there were some stairs that were very dangerous to use what would be the solution?
Politicians answer- blame the carpenter and put a sign up.
Real solution- tear those stairs down and build new ones.

it's a crude metaphor but i think it communicates my point sufficiently.

I'd go for picking out the bad bits and repairing them. I'd still have a staircase where you'd be stuck on the ground floor.

btw George galloway in all-in one spandex........

edit on 2-4-2012 by JonoEnglish because: (no reason given)

granted, it wasn't pretty!
2nd
f.

i'm surprised boulton didn't make more meat of it.

Originally posted by VoidHawk
As an x hgv driver I've been watching this coming. So have TPTB thats why we've had so many hours of tv dedicated to demonising the trucker. According to the tv they are all pedo's or drive while eating a four course meal. That is the opinion of the sheeple now too.
They've also diluted them by allowing so many jobs to be taken by foriegn drivers.

Hats off to you guys. We all know who the real tug boat is that pushes and drives any nation. Its the truckers. This demonstration will prove it. Its really all of us peons that push "their" barge.

reply to post by petrus4


I agree. The only method TPTB understands is violence. They have shown their merciless side during the Occupy movement and other peaceful protests, so why not!. I don't necessarily condone this although I do believe this is the only way to get the point across.

This whole fuel fiasco in my opinion has come about by sheer coincidence following the Budget and the plans to freeze fuel duty. I can just imagine what they said in Parliament "We are not going to get the money we need so why not create a panic! Fuel strike... that might work!"

Anon are calling for a global strike on MayDay. May as well, I need the day off anyway.

reply to post by FeatherofMaat


The tea party does not exist in the UK...

reply to post by something wicked


The tanker drivers may strike about conditions, but the leader of the truckers union has stated on sky news today that they will be striking about fuel prices to protect their and everyone elses livelihoods..

Originally posted by EvanB
reply to post by FeatherofMaat

 

The tea party does not exist in the UK...

So you guys don't break for tea anymore?

Sorry I couldn't resist.

I think it is great they are actually doing something about it in the UK, but it will be interesting to see how far they take it and how much power the people have.

Originally posted by EvanB
reply to post by something wicked

 

The tanker drivers may strike about conditions, but the leader of the truckers union has stated on sky news today that they will be striking about fuel prices to protect their and everyone elses livelihoods..

He can say what he likes, but that isn't what the strike is about. It may really surprise you to learn that unions today will do anything to try and maintain their stranglehold. Transport strikes already being planned for when the Olympics take place - why? Well, why do you think?

Originally posted by Xcellante

This whole fuel fiasco in my opinion has come about by sheer coincidence following the Budget and the plans to freeze fuel duty. I can just imagine what they said in Parliament "We are not going to get the money we need so why not create a panic! Fuel strike... that might work!"

I have been thinking along similar lines for the last week. Since Monday last week, when I had to fill up and could only get Vpower Petrol, I knew something was up. The drivers are not even on strike yet the situation has been fanned by the government and media into an all-out panic situation. As a result, there now IS a shortage (or so we are told) and the price has rocketed. I guess that once the threat of a strike has ceased and things are back to normal, we'll see prices drop right back to pre-panic prices.... won't we? This whole situation just seems completely manufactured.