Durham drivers vote for action
Page 12
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
by Juliet Parish • More than half of Billinghambased R Durham and Sons' 97 drivers have voted to take industrial action unless the general haulier gives them a pay rise this Friday.
In a postal ballot counted last Sunday, 55 drivers voted in favour of industrial action: 47 of them for all-out action and eight for action short of a strike.
The Transport & General Workers Union, which represents nearly all the drivers, says it will not take any action at Durham's three depots in the North-East and one in the West Midlands until after Friday's meeting when shop stewards will meet the company. It will then ballot its 94 members at the company on whether to accept Durham's latest offer; if they do not it will ballot again for industrial action.
TGWU district officer Allan Gray is convinced the drivers will take action, which could include a series of one-day stoppages, unless they get an increase.
"They are particularly incensed because last September they had their bonus payments cut by half with no union consultation, leaving them between £10 and £14 a week out of pocket," says Gray. "Unfortunately they are reflecting the mood of other drivers in Teesside and the rest of the UK where drivers realise they have to take on their companies to improve their pay," he adds.
The company has declined to comment on the dispute. It is one of 17 operators which are waiting to hear if they will be used by British Steel after BS has reduced the number of sub-contractors it uses for its Lackenby, Redcar site (see opposite page). R Durham & Son was one of six hauliers asked to re-tender for the business in January (CM 21-27 Jan).