IW hauliers to talk?
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ULIERS in North-west ;land outside Merseyside to be asked whether or they want to salvage any lective forum between rnselves and driver repretatives.
'he United Road Trans:t Union has formally ad for a procedural agree-it to be revived on the unstanding that pay rates will be included. Under the 2ement that fell apart three rs ago, pay rates were rifled in an appendix to agreement.
)isciplinary and other iutes would be covered by the proposed agreement, which would take account of recent legal changes.
The Road Haulage Association will canvass members' views over the next few weeks, and it is likely that the possibility of a similar forum involving the Transport and General Workers' Union will be discussed.
Collective wage talks in the area seem further away than ever. RHA district manager Bob Entwhistle commented that firms prefer to deal with their drivers at company level. While fortunes vary, most hauliers are finding dif ficulty keeping their companies going.
Hauliers feel that the people who know that best are their own drivers, who are fully aware of the circumstances of their company. Also, differences are widening both in the level of settlements and method of payment of drivers, he said.
The URTU is at its strongest in the North West, and has its head office in Manchester. Drivers in several small haulage firms are believed to have transferred to the URTU from the TGWU this year.