Dispute over at Morrisons
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by Juliet Parish
• A six-month wrangle over pay for 750 distribution and warehouse staff at William Morrison Supermarkets ended in victory last week for Transport & General Workers Union staff who won a 30 increase.
An independent arbitrator, brought in to settle a binding agreement, rejected the northern supermarket chain's plan for a 2% increase on basic rates with an increase in the attendance bonus Morrison pays to drivers who complete all of their weekly collections.
The decision by Brian Towers, Strathclyde University's Professor of industrial relations, is believed to give Morrison's 150 drivers a weekly increase of £8.50 for day work and £9.70 for night shifts. The increase will be backdated to 1 February this year and is understood to boost drivers' wages for a 50-hour week to £291.80 for day work and £333.01 for night work.The attendance bonus will remain at £10 a week, says the TGWU.
One of the union's most effective arguments on behalf of distribution staff at Morrison's Wakefield and Bradford depots was that 16,750 retail staff had been awarded a 3% increase.
TWGU district secretary Pete Smith is pleased with the result, but says: "had the company from the outset approached talks in a professional manner we feel we could have reached an agreement earlier. Retail staff won their increase in April."
Morrison declines to comment