Drivers fight less for more'
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• Drivers for Wincanton Logistics are up in arms over a new contract which will make them work longer hours for less money.
The 70 truckers at Wincanton Logistics' Gloucestershire depot are being asked to agree to contracts which increase their hours from 48 to 55 a week but decrease their wages from £6.50 to £5.80 an hour.
The plant opened in January and recruited drivers with an attractive hours and wage package—but now many drivers say they wish they had never moved from their previous employment.
'When they advertised the jobs it was like a dream come true,' says one driver. "It was a job which allowed me to spend more time with my family. But now I find were not only worse off in terms of pay but the conditions are also far worse."
Another driver says the change equates to a pay cut of £3,000 a year.
David Penfold, deputy director of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW), which represents the drivers, says the company is making the changes because it miscalculated the value of a SmithKline Beecham contract.
"How ever you look at it. the company got it wrong." he says.
Wincanton Logistics says: "We started our contract in the Brockworth Business Park in late 1998 and have now reviewed the transport operation in the light of its operational experience, The company now needs to revise the terms and conditions of the drivers to reflect the changed commercial position, it adds.