Unite cancels fuel strike to ease panic

On Friday, Unite, which represents around 2,000 tanker drivers, announced that it would rule out industrial action over the Easter weekend after the British government’ bungled response to a potential fuel strike planned by Britain’s fuel tank drivers triggered panic buying.

After fuel tanker drivers voted for strike action on Monday to protest their working conditions and health and safety regulations, the British government exacerbated the situation by urging the public to panic buy and store petrol.

On Wednesday, British Prime Minister David Cameron chaired a meeting of Cobra to discuss ways of limiting the effects of the potential industrial action.

The Cobra meeting was followed by long queues at petrol stations as Cameron, Energy Secretary Ed Davy, and Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude urged people to buy more petrol than they did normally and store petrol in their home.

Several petrol stations ran dry across Britain and a woman was taken to hospital with 40% burns to her body after she caught fire while decanting petrol she had stored inside her home.

“This is exactly what we didn’t want,” said a spokesperson from the Petrol Retailers Association.

Unite said the chaos caused by the British government’s response was the reason why they decided to shift focus on negotiations. Nevertheless, the union has said it retains the right to call a strike in case negotiations break down.

ISH/JR/HE

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