Tippermen refuse to pay Tarmac's costs
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• Derbyshire tippermen who went on strike at Tarmac quarries a year ago (CM 18-24 Oct 1990) have offered the company a no-strike deal — but they are refusing to pay £500 each towards Tarmac's legal costs.
Simon Richardson, the solicitor representing 15 of the hauliers involved in the dispute, has written to Tarmac offering an assurance that his clients will not take part in unlawful strike action. Only one driver has agreed to pay Tarmac £500.
Richardson says strike action could be found unlawful in a case where the strikers were not direct employees under the terms of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974. However, he says his clients deny last year's action, organised by the National Hauliers Association, was illegal. "It is unlikely any of the men will want to be involved in another strike after this experience," says Richardson.
The proposed settlement was agreed when Richardson met 10 out of the 19 hauliers named by Tarmac, which is demanding cash towards its £45,000 legal costs. Since then another five drivers have come forward and Richardson believes that the remainder have gone to Tarmac direct with a similar proposal.
Tarmac says it is unable to comment on the tippermens' offer because "it is going through the legal process". Last month the NHA revealed it had run out of cash to continue fighting the legal battle against Tarmac (CM 19-25 Sept).
Tarmac is the only quarry operator to have taken the NHA to court.