Following up on the blog precisely 2 months ago about imminent driving examiner strike action, Tom Ingram (Owner of BIG TOM) provides the latest information for BIG TOM customers.
One of the major driving instructor associations in the UK, the MSA has recently released information indicating that driving examiners are beginning a “work to rule” from the 23/11/2017 and a 2 day strike on the 4th and 5th December 2017. The 4/12/2107 being the date of the new format driving test – the very latest on that new driving test was reported here on this blog just 3 days ago.
Back in September when I first reported on the examiners’ threat of action, there was every chance that an agreement would be reached thus avoiding any union action of this type but unfortunately it seems this is not the case. I should point out to customers that the news the MSA brings is as yet uncorroborated by the DVSA and does not feature at the time of writing on www.GOV.uk but nevertheless, one would assume they have good cause to release this latest update and it does appear to be very specific in nature.
What are the practical implications of this action? When strike action has happened previously, not all examiners within a given driving test centre will either be a member of the affected union or for personal reasons may not enforce the action. As such, it is impossible to say with certainty what affect this will have on you from the 23/11/2017. One aspect that I can reassure customers is that as has happened previously the policy here at BIG TOM will be that any cancelled test due to this action will not have any financial implications on our customers by way of lost test fee or use of the driving school car. When pupils are getting to the end phase of the learning to drive process, the very last thing they need is stress or anxiety caused by the possibility of being financially out of pocket. However, it is not lost on me, that the effects of a last minute cancelled driving test can still play havoc with customers’ work and daily schedules and for that, I can only empathise with you. In previous years when this crops up, the DVSA have given clear guidance on whether there is any process in place by way of any compensation so I will keep a look out for that for you all.
This is of course a very unfortunate development because the taking of driving tests is in itself a high stress situation, I know from experience that some pupils will not sleep well the night before and of course, depending on their circumstances, the taking of a driving test often involves loss of pay or using up holiday entitlement.
The precise implications of this work to rule are unclear. I know from using a handful of test centres there is a fair degree of movement of examiners between test centres presumably in order to make their service work so it is possible that should examiners refuse to switch test centres for example, that might have an impact on test availability. But this is of course conjecture at this stage. Regarding the 2 strike days, if the examiners enforce this and physically make themselves ‘unavailable’ for driving tests on those days, then unfortunately, there is the possibility of us turning up for test only to be disappointed as it does not go ahead.
I appreciate that this situation is far from ideal, but do please keep monitoring this blog as I will update with any new information that comes to light.
[Update: We have had clarification of the reason for the action by the union concerned which does involve issues relating to work practice as well as concerns regarding safety with the new driving test. Full account is given HERE]
[UPDATE: This is the formal response from the DVSA which as you can read only appears to address the issue relating to safety of the new driving test – read it HERE ]
