The head of a Dutch truckers union delivered a clear message Monday to the United Kingdom as it looks for foreign truckers to ease its driver shortage: no thanks.

“The EU workers we speak to will not go to the U.K. for a short-term visa to help the U.K. out of the [expletive] they created themselves,” said Edwin Atema, the head of research and enforcement at the Netherlands-based FNV union, which represents drivers across the European Union.

In an interview on BBC Radio, Atema criticized the U.K. scheme as a “dead end” and that much more would be needed to rescue its trucking sector. Asked if the high pay that London is willing to offer to foreign drivers is an incentive, Atema maintained that it was not enough.

"Drivers need way more than a visa and a payslip,” he said, noting that foreign drivers would be subject to what he said were poor working conditions in the U.K. under the visa scheme.

Under the visa plan proposed by Whitehall, up to 5,000 foreign drivers would be provided with short-term visas that would let them stay until Christmas Eve. Atema points out that drivers would be forced to find their own accommodations on days off and slammed U.K. authorities for not doing enough to enforce their own labor regulations that protect workers.

There is concern in the U.K. that an ongoing shortage of truck drivers will lead to shortages of food and other goods ahead of the winter season. This shortage is also compounded by an energy shortage that is being compounded by panic buying from scared consumers. Several energy firms have already gone out of business from the situation, and London is floating the idea of state-backed loans to save the industry from collapse.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government has floated the idea of using British military service members to fill the truck driver shortage. No final decision on calling in the military has been made, but cabinet ministers have not ruled it out.

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