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IDG drivers win a 20% pay rise
Page 7
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,OGISTICS GIANT TDG is oosting drivers' pay by nearly D% at a depot in Kent to reduce s reliance on agency drivers.
The deal with the Transport & ieneral Workers Union benefits drivers at the company's Northeet depot, increasing their hourly ites from £6.75 to £8.
A TDG spokesman says nearly all of the 12 vacancies at the depot were filled within a few days of the deal being accepted.
"The problem of driver shortages has affected the depot for the past 18 months but it's become more acute over the past year when just over a quarter of the workforce was made up of agency drivers," he reports.
"We didn't think that £6.75/hr was terribly uncompetitive but in reality it is."
The deal is expected to be selffinancing because of the lower costs and better customer service that should result from having a more stable workforce.
The spokesman adds: "The deal will mean that pay rates are now sufficiently high to absorb the implications of the Working Time Directive next year."
T&G regional industrial organiser Billy Lamb describes the deal, which is backdated to November. as ground-breaking.