Scots set the cat among the pigeons
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IAULIERS' eyebrows have been raised by this year's Scottish wage ettlement which pushes the basic rate for Class 1 drivers up to £83 )r 40 hours. ALAN MILLAR reports.
The deal, which followed long, hard, and difficult" talks etween employers and trades nion representatives on the cottish Joint Industrial Council, dds £5 extra on drivers' basic ay. Subsistence is up 75p to 3.50.
Transport and General (orkers Union officials are giv g drivers a firm recommenda)n to accept the offer which, ey feel, is the best which can 3 achieved in the circumances. Already, the drivers ive rejected Scottish hauliers' quest for a six months' stands I on wages.
Northern Ireland employers, eanvvhile, have followed Eng h practice by agreeing a £4 flat te increase, which takes basic y for top-weight drivers up
)m £77 to £81. Subsistence ,es up by 50p.
They also have agreed a ten r cent increase in the Northern land productivity bonus for casions where there is no uble-manning and a load exads five tons. That goes up m€1 to €1.10 per day.
\nd, unlike British negotias, they have agreed two days' d bereavement leave for driv, provided that it is restricted deaths of a father, mother, 3band, wife, son, or daughter.
NAPSON 18cuyd tipping bodies fitted to a pair of OAF FAD'5DHU 8x4s delivered recently to n Greenwood and Co Ltd, of Sur m, Surrey. The vehicles, which Tate in South London and Surare used to carry sand, ballast, ' other building materials to contction sites.
This deal changes Northern Ireland's anniversary date from November to January 1, and, in compensation, all 4,000 drivers are being paid a £70 special payment related to attendance.
Completing Celtic contrasts, South Wales negotiators look set to agree a deal giving topweight drivers a £78.28 basic rate (up £2.28) and an extra 25p subsistence.
TGWU representatives have recommended that drivers accept the offer, and .expected to give employers formal notification around Christmas.
The deal is worth three per cent across the board, taking Class 2 drivers from £74 to £76.22, and Class 3 from £72 to £74.16.
There seems little chance of an unspecified wage offer from East Midlands hauliers being accepted before the New Year, if even then, and North-western employers' offers of £3 extra across the board and 50p extra subsistence look likely to be rejected too.
Meanwhile, the Scottish settlement must set other talks in a new light, especially in the West Midlands where talks between TGWU and RI-IA hauliers and container operators are still outstanding.
TGWU officials have refused to put a £1.50 net increase offer from RHA employers to their members, and say now that they are looking for a 6.6 per cent increase on basic pay, which would give top-weight men £83.50 plus £1.50 West Midlands supplement. Employers want the supplement to be abolished.
The container base operators have offered an £82.50 basic rate plus £4 differential, but union officials now are looking for this to be raised to £83 plus £4.