Hanson subbies fear pay changes will slash income
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by David Craik Up to 40 owner-drivers are furious over a new operating and payment system from Hanson Aggregates which, they claim, could severely cut their income.
The system of payment by daily and actual mileage allowances and the reorganisation of vehicle schedules using software and text messaging is being trailed by 15 owner-drivers out of Hanson's Stanwick depot for a month from 19 June.
It is designed to replace the existing system of payment by radial miles—a Hanson Aggregates spokesman says this "will make drivers better off through more consistent and reliable work".
But the owner-drivers have calculated that they will not be able to make a profit on the new rates. "With an eight-wheel tipper you get a £90 daily allowance for a weekday shift and payment of 82p per mile," says one. "I would lose £20,000 a year on that rate."
Another driver who has already trialled the new system for a month says his payments would have fallen by £1,600 a month.
The owner-drivers are so concerned that they "withdrew their labour" from the Stanwick depot on Tuesday 12 June.
"We all threw a sickie," says one. "If this system comes in we will all have to chuck in the towel." However, the Hanson spokesman says their concerns simply reflect hauliers' usual attitudes to any talk of new rates. "There is always uncertainty with change," he adds.
On the question of the lost £1,600, the spokesman says: "The driver did not lose this money. He was being paid on normal rates and we were calculating how much he would lose or gain in theory. He was also travelling his normal distances. Under a full scheme he would be doing more work, travelling in a wider area and making a profit.' Hanson, one of the largest aggregates producers in the world, is due to meet its owner-drivers in two weeks and again at the end of the month-long trial to review the findings.
Drivers are also worried that the new system would abolish payment for waiting times and that communication between Hanson's planning office and hauliers will be by text messaging via mobile phones. which could threaten safety. "The new rates reflect the abolished waiting time and we will be informing drivers that text messaging should not be done in transit, " says the Hanson spokesman.