Crew Cabs

Many T&G and UNISON members will have received a letter from Michael Walker about an agreement that has been reached about passenger numbers in the crew cabs. The letter left unanswered several questions about how this would be implemented so I will try to fill these in.

A long journey would be any journey that is scheduled to take over half an hour though even for a short journey, four staff and all of their bags would still be a very crowded back seat and should be avoided.

If the team has over twelve staff wanting transport, it will be the responsibility of the team management to provide an alternative form of transport that does not involve staff using their own cars. In most cases this will mean that a taxi will need to be provided. No one should be pressured to use their own car and there is also the issue of the proper insurance as it is necessary to have business insurance if you are claiming work mileage. Most insurance companies do not charge for this but some might and unless the blood service is willing to cover the possible extra cost, you are not obliged to use your own car. You are not obliged to use your car anyway even if you do have business use insurance.

Staff have also been told that they cannot store their safety shoes on the crew cabs as there is not enough space. This goes against the legislation about the provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) which is very clear about the storage and cleaning of PPE. Page 34 of the USDAW guide goes into much more detail about the regulations.

Please make sure that your team manager is aware of the agreement before the need arises (if you are lucky enough to go out with more than twelve staff).