The FTA is calling on the Scottish government to class those in the logistics industry as key workers to bring support during the coronavirus pandemic.
Doing so would mean that worker would still have access to schooling during the shutdown, enabling their work.
Although the UK government has said that logistics staff have been identified as key workers, a parliamentary speech from Deputy First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney, outlined that the Scottish government is passing responsibility down to local authorities to work with schools in establishing who the children of key workers are; bringing a “fragmented approach”, according to the FTA.
Mags Simpson, FTA’s head of Scottish policy, said: “Operators work nationally and should not be put in a situation where logistics workers are considered key workers in one part of the country but not another. This would add confusion in an already complicated scenario. The logistics industry has been recognised by the UK government as crucial to economic success and needs to have a clearly defined approach to ensure that we keep all parts of the network moving.
“Industry relies on its workers to keep the supply chain as resilient as possible. And, while we fully understand that there will be some subtle differences regionally within other sectors, we do ask that this does not include vital logistics staff.”
