Should the Dear Leader be encouraging panic buying?

Channel 4 news are here to do interviews on how panic buying and the threat of a strike is affecting things.
 
Cameron and Maude (who probably no longer actually have to bother with buying petrol) disingenuously try to portray this as greedy petrol tanker drivers striking over pay.

It is my understanding that the fuel companies used to own their tankers and to employ drivers; they decided to sell off this business to contract haulage companies who have been consistently reducing pay and other benefits ever since. Since they are no longer involved in delivering fuel, the fuel companies can squeeze the outside contractors, knowing full well that if something goes horribly wrong, they will not be deemed to be responsible.

It is my understanding that the fuel companies make larger and larger profits year in, year out.

Wasn't there a wee Health & Safety problem a few years ago at a fuel depot in Essex that was operated by contractors?
 
Thanks to the government's incompetence sparking panic buying, if I can't fill up on the way home from work tonight I won't be able to drive to work tomorrow or for the foreseeable future. I would have filled up normally yesterday but the queues were too long and now I daren't risk too many more miles. Filling up round here is bad enough normally, queueing is quite normal since they closed down a couple of petrol stations in town. This bloody country :mad:
 
shoot1st said:
............Then you've got the big question as to who is going to drive the tankers while the strikes are on.
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Wasn't there an emergency COBRA meeting where they decided they would order 'read as force' the Army to do it as they can't strike and if they refuse its seen as disobeying a direct order thus leading to court martial + disciplinary proceedings ?

The whole Petrol 'food chain' in this country is a delicately balanced machine in as much as most forecourts run on a just in time process. So even if there are no strikes I think the damage has already been done as people are making a mad dash to fill up 'out of cycle' therefore leading to artificial shortages as delviery schedules are calcualted based on average consumption rather than the tanks getting blitzed every day.

I see Chaos by Easter at this rate, especially if we don't have an official statement soon from UNITE on their intentions and proposed strike timetable.
 
I popped this morning in as per requirement, not because of news stories/panic and the place was rammed!

The girl on the till said I was the first person she's served today putting in under £20!
 
Am I right in thinking that the strikers have to give a 7 day notice of when they are going to strike, so far this hasn't been recieved, and now our government has made a mistake saying people ought to panic buy, hence both the petrol stations near me have already sold out this morning and the queues were huge.

How ridiculous.
 
physichull said:
Am I right in thinking that the strikers have to give a 7 day notice of when they are going to strike, so far this hasn't been recieved, and now our government has made a mistake saying people ought to panic buy, hence both the petrol stations near me have already sold out this morning and the queues were huge.

How ridiculous.
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Yes, and it wasn't a government mistake, it was a well orchestrated plan to ensure civil unrest which could then be directly pinned on the Labour Parties largest donor. Governments don't make mistakes when it comes to these things as they full well know what notice unions must give before calling a strike and full well know the delicate balance of the fuel supply chain in Britain
 
Can anyone tell me why the tanker drivers want to strike, I mean a detailed reason, not the pay and conditions clap trap that is being trotted out by Unite.
 
OldCoals said:
Can anyone tell me why the tanker drivers want to strike, I mean a detailed reason, not the pay and conditions clap trap that is being trotted out by Unite.
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I heard they are agency employed and so safety standards are terrible as stockhausen said. Nothing to do with pay although i also heard the average wage has droppd over £10000 in a decade.
 
OldCoals said:
Can anyone tell me why the tanker drivers want to strike, I mean a detailed reason, not the pay and conditions clap trap that is being trotted out by Unite.
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I think its a combination of factors

1. There is a massive pay divide between Old Shop and new drivers that are employed as contractors via an agency / 3rd party

2. Due to driving costs down and having to make savings certain areas are being less well maintained, as such H&S standards are reportedly slipping and for transportation of what is essentially a bomb on wheels you can understand why there is some noise on this one
 
scorza said:
Thanks to the government's incompetence sparking panic buying, if I can't fill up on the way home from work tonight I won't be able to drive to work tomorrow or for the foreseeable future. I would have filled up normally yesterday but the queues were too long and now I daren't risk too many more miles. Filling up round here is bad enough normally, queueing is quite normal since they closed down a couple of petrol stations in town. This bloody country :mad:
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Just take a jerry can and waddle to the front of the queue while some hapless motorist in a car is pulling up... ninja fill!
 
I'm in a hire car at the moment (don't know when I'm going to get mine back from repairs) so I don't want to put too much in at once and it's bugging the hell out of me :)
 
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