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Scottish tanker drivers brace for strike action
Page 7
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A strike by up to 40 Scottish tanker drivers is looming as union leaders continue to campaign for improved pay and conditions throughout the oil industry.
The ballot on industrial action at Gleaner Oils and Shell Direct follows the drivers' rejection of a 5.3% pay offer.
Both companies form the rump of the Scottish Oil Trade Employers Council. As a result, any deal will still act as a template for several smaller oil companies in the region, according to Billy Laing, MD of Elgin-based Gleaner.
He says: "The union has asked for £12/hour which is totally unrealistic. It's a very competitive world out there and I think we're giving a fair increase in the circumstances." The drivers, who currently receive £8.35/hour for a 165-hour month, also want harmonised pen
sion schemes that are all based on final salaries.
Pat Rafferty, Transport & General Workers Union regional industrial organiser, says this is part of the union's "4 Ps" campaign to improve the professionalism,pay, pensions and productivity of 3,000 oil tanker drivers.
"We have a common objective for them all, irrespective of what company they work for," he says. The campaign was launched in October; one of its successes has
been final salary pensions for all 500 drivers employed by three contractors working for Shell (CM 8 January).
John Roscoe, chair of the T&G's oil trade delegates, says a series of mass meetings nationwide will be completed by mid-May. "We've received 100% endorsement for what we're doing," he says. "The next stage will be to sort out the problems drivers face with oil companies, contractors and the government."