DCC buckles under union pressure

The drivers courted the disciplinary action after they had ransacked the office of the chief conservancy officer under whom they were placed by the DCC authorities transferring them from the transport pool. It was an administrative measure deemed necessary owing to alleged fuel pilferage.

So, this is another example of strident unionism overruling a perfectly legitimate administrative decision. The DCC authorities wanted to streamline the garbage lorry operations by placing the drivers, relevantly, under the conservancy chief. The authorities rightly felt the need for plugging the holes of fuel pilferage.

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The drivers simply refused to accept petroleum coupons that the conservancy department wanted to introduce as a way of stopping the malpractice. They were, in effect, asking the authorities to allow them to carry on as they pleased.

The failure of the DCC to push their corrective measure through is no minor debacle. It has set a dangerous precedent that even an illegal activity cannot be stopped as long as trade unionism exists in its most militant form. The DCC, by swallowing the bitter pill at the instance of union leaders, has indeed exposed its own weakness and inability to handle the unruly elements within the organisation. Nothing can be more regrettable than such backpedalling on a perfectly justifiable decision, because it signals abdication of authority on the part of an elected body. This is a formula for disaster that runs counter to any semblance of institutionalisation.

Once the DCC bosses had taken a tough action they should have stuck by it. But they have retreated thereby sending across a message of indulgence to an errant section of employees. Let's put a stop to buckling under pressure.