Unions vote on Linkman
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IN Trade unions have decided to start a grievance procedure which could lead to strike action against Linkman Tankers, unless it withdraws its threatened pay cuts of more than 25% (CM 2-8 July).
Last Saturday (4 July) shop stewards voted to take action, following Linkman's threat to impose varying pay cuts on the 700 drivers at its nine UK sites.
It is believed that the first steps have already been taken at the Runcorn depot, where a failure to agree notice has been registered. The Transport and General Workers' Union expects the other depots to follow suit, in which case it will meet managing director Richard Kirby to thrash out a solution.
Kirby hopes that the dispute will end there: "Negotiations are on-going, and so long as we are talking there is a chance of a solution," he says.
The proposed cut at the Middlesborough depot would bring basic pay down from £212 to £148 for a 40-hour week, and the minimum wage, including overtime to £185. The TGWU and the United Road Transport Union, representing the drivers at the Transport Development Group subsidiary say they will reject any pay cut, even if it is smaller than the original plan. But the TGWU concedes that "a pay freeze is a possibility," They are prepared to take the case to the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), and finally to an industrial ballot: "We will exhaust all the procedures possible, but at the end of the day if the company is not prepared to lift its pay cut, there will almost certainly be industrial action," says the TGWU's Maurice Britton.