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MG to pot tanker drivers in spotlight
Page 6
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• by Sally Nash The Transport & General Workers Union (T&G ) is preparing to launch a new hard-hitting campaign in the autumn to improve the pay and conditions of tanker drivers.
Much of the detail is still being worked out but it is understood that issues such as harmonising anniversary dates for pay awards and moving towards a salaried pay structure—instead of an hourly wage—could be part of the campaign.
The T&G's outgoing general secretary Bill Morris says: "At long last the tanker drivers are beginning to wake up. We'll be launching a new charter soon that seeks to raise their professional level. I argue that they should stop asking for hourly rates and move towards seeking a salary" Morris hints that, in return for improved conditions, drivers would have to be prepared to be more flexible in their working arrangements.
The campaign, which was initially scheduled to be launched in July at the union's annual conference, is now expected to go ahead in the next few months.
The idea seems to have grown out of the fuel blockades that took place in autumn 2000, when hauliers and farmers picketed outside fuel plants to protest over spiralling diesel costs.
The action was a "graphic example of where drivers were seen as an essential service— particularly the tanker drivers", says Morris.
Subsequently, major industrial disputes with Conoco and P&G Trans European showed that although tanker drivers usually enjoy higher than average salaries, this is not always the case.
In July last year, 400 tanker drivers at P&D Trans European, on contract for Shell, voted to take strike action overpay. They rejected a pay offer of 2.5%, which was considered low com pared to the 4.5%-5% offered to other drivers in the industry. At the time, the T&G demanded an 8% pay rise to take account of previous low pay increases, and the responsibility of the job.
Drivers' annual earnings at P&O Trans European were said to be £23,000 but, according to the union, others in the industry were receiving between 125,000 and £30,000.