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Union calls for negotiated ay deal for Warn drivers
Page 12
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• by NY ShoPliard A union leader says drivers at haulier James Irlam & Sons will not stand for another imposed pay deal when negotiations on a new agreement start in September.
Cheshire-based Ham has made no secret of its dislike of the United Road Transport Union (URTU) which gained official recognition there in September 2001. Last year, it side-stepped pay negotiations by imposing a payrise that was actually higher than the one offered to the union.
URTU divisional officer Roy Abrahams says: "I don't think they're going to get away with it twice. I think there would be real problems if the company attempted to repeat what it did last year.
"We would much prefer them to honour the commitment they gave us in a signed
and written agreement to negotiate properly."
David Ham, managing director of the company, deckles to comment but a driver says many of his fellow URTU mem bers among the company's 300strong driver workforce have left since last year, weakening the union's position.
"I'd say the company has not minded when union members have left and been replaced with non-union personnel.
"In the past, the company would have moved heaven and earth to keep those people, because they worked hard and were respected."
A spokesman for the Trades Union Congress says unions can be derecognised only if companies apply to the Central Arbitration Committee, a government agency.