Sunday work sparks row
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• A dispute over Sunday working has led to 54 drivers allegedly being locked out of Tibbett & Britten's Lowfield depot at Middleton, Manchester while agency drivers handle the depot's deliveries.
Thirty-five tractive units and 50 trailers have been transferred to depots at St Helens and Crewe after Lowfield transferred Middleton's work to the two depots. This followed a threat by Sainsbury to take its business away from Lowfield. "The depot has had a poor record in terms of quality, productivity and reliability for a number of years," says Tibbett & Britten, "so Sainsbury began to move the business away."
The company denies there is a lock out, saying the depot has been closed until new business is attracted there and reliability can be guaranteed. "The company is paying layoff rates to workers who cannot work at the site until it is opened again," it says.
Agency drivers have handled the extra work at Crewe and St Helens since the depot was closed on 15 August.