1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224 
Union stalemate at !dam
Page 5
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• The United Road Transport Union (URTU) has admitted it has made no progress in trying to end its disagreement with Cheshire haulage firm James !dam & Sons.
The problems date back to wage negotiations last year where boss David !dam introduced an across-the-board pay rise for the firm's staff, going over the heads of URTU negotiators who were locked in pay talks with the company's representatives.
Union representatives are understood to be particularly irntated that the imposed pay rise was actually higher than that offered across the negotiating table.
This prompted a meeting last Thursday between union officials, representatives from James Iriam and the conciliation service ACAS. However, the talks ended in deadlock and the union is now considering its position. URTU divisional officer Roy Abrahams says: "Our agreement provides for arbitration as a final step, but they weren't prepared to do that. It leaves us in a position of wondering where we go from here:' The matter may now be referred to the Central Arbitration Committee, who could enforce a legally-binding agreement on the company. Although it seems likely that the company will try to force a de-recognition ballot, the earliest this can happen is December 2004, explains Abrahams.
In the meantime, the two sides will attempt to conduct two more sets of pay negotiations, one later this year and again in the autumn of 2004.
James Irlam & Sons declined to comment,