Scots pay delay vote • Thousands of drivers in Scotland
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are to ballot on whether to accept the Road Haulage Association's decision to reject a pay increase until at least June. The result of the ballot will be learnt on 24 February. If the drivers, who work for RHA members, reject the RHA's offer to review pay in the summer the union could ballot for industrial action.
The only other concessions the RHA made at the Joint Industrial Council was agreeing to increase drivers' overnight subsistence in line with September's RPI (Retail Price Index) of 3.6%. And it will honour its agreement to give drivers an extra day's holiday after five years service and every year after up to a total of five weeks. The RHA's Scottish district manager Tom Brattin, says it is unrealistic to expect an increase considering the state of the market: "When customers are not prepared to increase hauliers rates, hauliers cannot afford to pay their drivers more," he says.
The TGWU's southern region is threatening to bypass what are proving to be unsuccessful pay negotiations with the RHA, by speaking direct to its members' employers based within its Oxford, Kent and Bournemouth perimeter. The decision came after a mass meeting in Southampton last weekend in which 100 drivers voted to continue fighting the RHA to sanction a pay increase. District officer Jennie Sandle says the thousands of drivers affected want around 3.5%.