Stobart Doncaster DC drivers stage strike
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By Chris Druce
FORMER TESCO drivers facing redundancy at new employer Eddie Stobart have completed a 48-hour walkout at the group’s Doncaster DC.
About 100 protesters also made themselves heard at the nearby Tesco store in Doncaster on 9 October, with the town’s mayor in attendance. Unite regional officer Harriet Eisner described the public’s reaction as “amazing” .
Following Stobart’s decision last month to make the 183 drivers’ roles at Doncaster redundant and remove the transport operation at the site to manage work from within the wider Stobart network, the DC’s Unite members decided to strike. The drivers had been transferred under Tupe regulations to Stobart from former employer Tesco at the start of August.
Eisner accused the operator of attempting to rid itself of the drivers as “quickly and as cheaply as they can” .
Eddie Stobart MD David Pick ering said: “It’s disappointing that the drivers have decided to strike as we are not even halfway through the consultation process. We have already committed more than 120 alternative driving roles in the Stobart Group, with Tesco offering an additional 90 warehousing jobs in the Yorkshire region. “We’ve put contingency plans in place to ensure that store deliveries are maintained and so far we’ve seen no significant disruption.” However, Unite has complained that the jobs being offered to its driver members are either warehouse roles, or driving jobs elsewhere in the network on different terms and conditions. Eisner added that the nearest driving job on offer is in Chesterfield, which is more than 30 miles away.
Unite will hold a meeting with Eddie Stobart’s management team on 16 October and intends to fight for a better pay-off for its members than the statutory redundancy on the table if the jobs cannot be saved.