Pay rounds set to start with 6% rise
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by Miles Brignall • Drivers are demanding UK-wide pay rises of between 6% to 30% to make up for low settlements over the past four years.
A 20% rise would raise the national average wage for a 38-tonner driver above £5 an hour (£200 per week) for the first time. The Transport & General Workers Union has called for a 6% increase.
The first meetings of unions, employers and road haulage groups are now taking place to discuss the pay round for next year. Drivers' demands differ in each part of the country, but all agree that wage levels need to be brought up relative to prerecession levels.
The average union, haulier and Road Haulage Association-negotiated Joint Industrial Council rate is currently £4 per hour (£160 a week) for a 32-tonner driver.
TGWU transport secretary in Scotland Jimmy Lock says some drivers he represents are calling for increases of up to 30% or £40 per week to compensate themselves for the years that wages fell below "a reasonable standard of living".
Lock is negotiating an increase for BRS drivers in Scotland of £10 to £20 a week. BRS drivers are paid £170 for a 40-hour week.
But JIC chairman in Nottingham, and managing director of Hancock Haulage, John Hancock, says drivers may have to be more realistic. He says the recovery is still fragile and pay increases may depend on what happens in next week's Budget.