Brian Pemberton boss 'is entitled to a good day's work'
Page 37
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
hour and 20 minutes for the load as I had to the other day, only to be told it had been sent five days ago. They couldn't find the bloke in charge."
Rob Armstrong takes home £250 (minus meal and overnight allowance) for a 63-hour week, driving for Burnley-based Greenline. He is paid time-and-a-half after 40 hours and double after 13:00hrs Saturday and all day Sunday. The company has negotiated a deal with its 120 drivers that no redundancies will be made in return for a pay freeze. However, he considers himself lucky.
"There are companies where you would earn a hell of a lot less and not be paid by the hour," he says. He has been an HGV driver 16 years, in the TGWU for 10 years, and with Greenline four. "Membership of a union is vital as many of the workers at customers' premises won't tip you if you haven't got a card."
Robin Craib earns £250 for a 40-hour week, plus up to 25 hours' overtime, for Aberdeenshire haulier Munro.
"When I left school it's what I wanted to do," he says. He has been a driver for 10 years, and with Munro since April. Before that, he worked for his father's firm, going through the Young Drivers' HGV Scheme.
LI by Murdo Morrison