1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152 
Drivers accept £78
Page 5
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
IN AN ATMOSPHERE described as "happy", West Midlands hauliers agreed a £78 basic wage for top lorry drivers last week, and other major areas took likely to settle rapidly, writes ALAN MILLAR.
Transport and General Workers' Union negotiators had sought £80 for 35 hours, but have agreed to the 19.5 per cent deal which includes a reduction in the supplement from £2.50 to £1.50.
Subsistence is up from £7.75 to £9, and the night-work alto' wance has risen from 40p per hour to 48p. There is a change in the method of payment for weekend working, but holiday allowances remain the same.
The deal, which covers Hereford and Worcestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and West Midlands, takes effect on December 1, and affects 10,000 drivers and 1700 Road Haulage Association member companies.
RHA area secretary Bob Ward told CM this week that he was happy with the business-like atmosphere of the talks which settled the claim within one day. He described TGWU chief negotiator Jim Hunt as "tough", but said the atmosphere suggested that there will be good liaison with unions in the future.
Metropolitan and SouthEast RHA members have repeated their £78 for 40 hours offer to unions with a clause inserted to deal with the question of a shorter working week. It says: "It is agreed that if , and when the tachograph is being used with the acceptance of unions and/or there is a substantial move towards a shorter working week in industry generally, there will be meaningful and productive discussions on the reduction of the working week notwithstanding that these events occur in the middle of the negotiating period." The Southern area has agreed an 18.4 per cent £77 for 40 hours deal which the union is recommending its members should accept.
It includes an £8.75 subsistence allowance, a 50p meal allowance for special circumstances, and increases in the rate of "dark" money.
With most areas having settled, or being on the point of it, the £78 level is holding good for the major industrial areas. Only York, at £75, has settled below the £76 minimum predicted by CM on November 3, and most £76 and £77 settlements have been in rural areas.
And British Oxygen drivers have lifted their threat to strike from January 7 following a 30 per cent pay deal which extends over 20 months.
The drivers share in a twostage deal for BOC's gases division manual workers.