Sadler pay dispute
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• Management at Sadler Tankers met union representatives yesterday (Wednesday 9 September) to discuss a drivers' pay dispute which could lead to strike action.
The Transport and General Workers Union says that the company is proposing to freeze some of its drivers' wages. According to the union, petroleum drivers and other staff have received a 4.5% pay rise, but there is no more money available for the chemical drivers.
"The lads are not satisfied," says Middlesbrough TGWU district organiser Alan Gray. "We have agreed to go to arbitration, but the company's not happy about it."
Gray says the company withdrew from a loss-of-licence scheme it had been running, which assured a £5,000 payment for drivers who lost their licences. He adds that the company is saying that it will reinstate the scheme if the drivers accept the wage freeze.
If the company makes no further concessions at the meeting on Wednesday, says Gray, the union will vote on industrial action.
Sadler employs about 40 chemical drivers, and the petroleum drivers have indicated that they will support them in any industrial action.
Sadler's managing director Phil Gate says: "We are in the very early stages of discussion, and there are bound to be disagreements at this stage. I have no further comment to make."