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P INDUSTRIAL ACTION
Page 12
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Shell drivers to accept 14% pay deal
7"---\\ SHELL TANKER DRIVERS are expected to accept a pay offer of 14% over two years to end the current dispute. which culminated in a fourday strike last week. The 600 drivers, who work for subcontractors Hoyer and Suckling Transport, had been threatening to strike again this weekend, but their union called off the action after the improved pay offer was made. The drivers have been balloted on the offer, and the formal result should be known in about a fortnight— although they are widely expected to accept.
A spokesman for the union, Unite, says: "There were intense and tough negotiations but this is a deal we feel we can recommend to our members."
The two sides in the dispute characterised the pay of the drivers in wildly differing ways: the union claimed its members were paid the same as in 1992, while the employers said drivers had had wage rises totalling 27% in the last four years.
One problem unlikely to go away if the settlement is confirmed is that the union would like Shell to routinely take more direct responsibility for those driving its tankers, rather than leave it to subcontractors.
It was not clear at the end of the dispute whether Shell has been involved in the final settlement.