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Lynx, Argos and Exel all face union unrest
Page 7
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• GY Guy GloPPard
Hundreds of Lynx Express drivers and warehouse staff called off a one-day strike on Monday (2 December) after receiving an improved pay offer which the Transport & General Workers Union describes as a "minor adjustment". National road transport secretary Danny Bryan says: "The membership agreed to postpone the strike pending their examination of the new proposal. They will make a decision later this week."
The dispute involves 150 T&G members in Scotland and 450 members of the RMT union in England and Wales. Bryan says the strike was called after the Nuneaton-based parcels company refused to budge on a 5% increase which would have run from October to January, 2004. "If you take the value of the offer in the first year, it is worth less than 3%," he adds. Basic pay for Lynx delivery drivers is £4.44/hr for a 40-hour week, A statement from the company says the action was called off because the unions identified the need for further consultation with their members. "No further action is planned," the company concludes.
W Three hundred workers at an Argos distribution centre are planning to go on strike In the run up to Christmas.
Staff at the company's
Bridgewater depot in Somerset, which distributes goods to 50 stores across South Wales and the SouthWest, will strike in support of nine employees who recently faced disciplinary action after they had complained about being transferred to different jobs Without consultation.
As CM went to press, the strike was expected to start from 22:00hrs on Thursday and continue through three weekends in December. This coincides with one of the year's busiest shopping periods.
A spokeswoman for Argos says the company is "disappointed" with the action the staff are taking and warns that the appeals procedure has been exhausted.
''We are making contingency plans to make sure goods get to stores in the South-West and South Wales so that customers won't be affected,' she adds, promising that the distribution centre will remain open during the strike.
CM was unable to contact a spokesman for the Transport and General Workers Union as we went to press.