Stalemate: 54 in Birminghan rucks trapped lepot row
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STALEMATE—that's the position at Birmingham Containerbase where 54 lorries are trapped by an industrial dispute.
Containerbase general manager E. Sharrock, having invoked local industrial disputes procedure without success, has referred the matter to his managing director in London. But, he told CM, on Monday he had received a letter from Alan Law of the TGWU saying that he refused to have the matter referred up.
TGWU's London HQ, questioned by a CM reporter, made no reference to this aspect, but in a statement declared: "The dispute continues over a loss of pay claim by the suspended men."
Meanwhile, the lorries enter their eighth week trapped in the Containerbase group depot.
One haulier, Mr Frederic Baker, of P. Baker and Sons (Transport) Ltd, who has six lorries trapped, told us : "I went to the pickets and askec 'Why take it out on us'?"
He said the men were sym. pathetic to the hauliers' plighi but took the attitude tha operators should pressuris( Containerbase.
The dispute, said Mr Baker had not at first hit him as ham as it would have done becaus( he had had drivers on holiday Now it was costing him £26 day to hire one Mercedes tc replace a lorry trapped inside Total business costs were no amounting to some £300 k week.
For the first six weeks 01 the dispute, which arose whet men were searched after th( company said pilferage wa: escalating, no lorries cross& picket lines. Then a Wesi Country haulier crashed th( gate to get out. Since then tilt entrance has been blocked b3 two tractive units and trailers The argument on getting th( 70 employees back to work ha: stuck on the loss of pay damn y the men.
Containerbase says that the [spute arose when, the police wing been called, the depot's 1,curity force selected three len to be searched and they jected. The disciplinary proxlure was invoked and ithin 15 minutes the men ere out. The TGWU version tys this : "The dispute arose ben the Containerbase cammy instituted instituted a security arch of their employees. hree men objected to being ;arched in their own time and ere suspended as a result ; ontainerbase then rescinded le search instructions and istituted a search in the comany's time ; at the same time le three men were rein:ated."
Meanwhile, the lorries main blocked. One haulier as told that the men had irned down E50 loss of time ay—to be taken from next ear's holiday money.
One of the hauliers whose ehicles are said to be " block" the entrance is West lidland Roadways Ltd, of Walsall, A spokesman for the company explained to us that his lorry was in a position where it was normally parked in the driveway ; now that another lorry had been placed alongside it the entrance was blocked. His company—and a shop steward—had phoned Mr Alan Law's office to see whether they could reach agreement to move their lorry, but had had no reply.
West Midland Roadways has a fleet of 32—and 14 are trapped in Containerbase. "We're struggling ; it's costing us a lot of money," said a spokesman. Drivers were being laid off on a rota basis.
Mr Jack Parnell, secretary of West Midlands RHA, said on the eve of his retirement on Monday that he thought the situation was "bloody diabolical."
"Speaking personally, I think something should be done. These vehicles have been detained by threats. If operators tried to drive their vehicles out they would be blacked wherever they went."