Toleman hit b: strike over pay cut
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/ Car transporter Toleman Automotive was hit by strike action this week when union leaders accused it of breaking an agreement to restore a 25% wage cut.
And pickets gathered at Toleman's Southampton depot where the company has made 30 drivers redundant after losing a 45,000-car Fiat contract — Fiat has split the work between Walon and Autacar Ss Transporter in Portbury, Bristol.
Toleman depots at Harwich, Ipswich and Dagenham — which holds the Ford contract — came to a halt as drivers walked out.
Liverpool, Luton and Birmingham are working normally, according to Toleman, as are Sunderland and Hartlepool where the company began its Nissan contract on 2 January with a claimed 87% of the Japanese car maker's UK volume.
The Transport and General Workers' Union was due to meet the company today (9 Jan) to press for reinstatement of the Southampton workers and the restoration of the 25% pay cut which was agreed to in 1990.
The union accepted the cut because Toleman was on the brink of going under — the company received extra funds from the Midland Bank on the understanding that it slashed its wages bill and the TGWU agreed to accept the measure until the end of last year.
Toleman has paid a Christmas lump sum of £200 to drivers at all depots, except Southampton as a "goodwill gesture".
Trouble flared on Christmas Eve when Toleman issued redundancy notices to 30 workers at Southampton, retaining only five drivers and three administration staff to handle a Renault contract. The 30 were told to go on 31 December.
The TGWU has responded by seeking a protection award from an industrial tribunal, claiming that Toleman has violated Section 99 of the Employment Protection Act, which calls for 30 days' notice when a company makes 10 or more workers redundant.
Toleman refuses to comment on the union allegations regarding Southampton, but a TGWU
spokesman says: "The Southampton lads have been locked out without any money whatsoever."
On the Southampton picket line on Monday (6 January) CM saw three drivers turned away when spoken to by pickets.
They had come to collect cars for Walon and were later allowed through; the union says it does not want to interfere with Walon's operation in Southampton.
However, 1,000 Fiat cars on Southampton Docks are part of the Toleman contract and the union will not allow these to be moved until the dispute is resolved.
Fiat says it switched the 'Nieman contract to rival operators because it wants "to provide the best service for our customers and dealers". It agrees that price was a factor.
Toleman will not discuss the Fiat move or the future of Southampton, but it admits that the workforce elsewhere has "a right to feel hard-done-by". It says it hopes to honour its commitments when cashflow improves.
"The revenue we have coming in makes it impossible for us to pay more to the worldorce at present," says Toleman. "The downturn last year was worse than anyone expected."