Union Opposes Lighter Evenings

Opposition to the plan detailed in a new Bill ( Lighter Evenings (Experiment) Bill ) to introduce a new BST has been highlighted by the CWU in a recent letter to all branches.

The bill which proposed a three-year trial of "double summertime", received it's second reading in the House of Lords in March and attempts to create lighter evenings and darker mornings by  altering the way Britain's clocks are set.

Presently the Summer Time Act 1972 means that the UK is one hour ahead of GMT during the period of summer which begins at one o'clock in the morning of the last Sunday in March and ends at one o'clock in the morning of the last Sunday in October. The proposal in the Bill is to advance time in England  one hour ahead of GMT during winter and to two hours ahead of GMT during summer starting on 29th October 2006 for a 3 year trial ending on 25th October 2009.

Our concerns expressed to the minister are in summary:

  • The Scottish Parliament could opt out in respect of Scotland , as could the Welsh National Assembly and so could the Northern Ireland Assembly creating different times zones across the UK .
  • Delivery Postmen and Women would not benefit at all from the creation of lighter evenings but would certainly suffer as a result of working on the darker mornings. 
  • The obvious increased risk to Workers of more road accident casualties, deaths and injuries on winter mornings caused by the darker mornings at a time when people are rushing to work. 
  • The further north you go in the winter, the fewer hours of daylight there are and in the winter in Scotland , the north of England and Northern Ireland in particular it doesn't get light until around 9am in some parts and in  Aberdeen for example there is not as much daylight as the south of England .
  • The Bill could affect our BT external Engineers, particularly in Scotland and the North, who climb telegraph poles and could change the whole concept of how their job is done, Work at Height being the single biggest cause of workplace deaths and one of the main causes of major injury.
  • Another concern is that we are seeing a steady increase in assaults, thefts and attacks on Postal Workers. Assaults and attacks on postal workers increase in the winter due to the dark mornings and that could worsen by imposing extra hours of darkness because criminals prefer to commit a crime during hours of darkness.

The fundamental fact is that there is only so much daylight and that won't change by moving it forwards, backwards or sideways and this bill is trying to square a circle. It is understood the government opposes the intentions within the bill. 

source:CWU LTB208/06

 
 
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