Drivers reject strike
Page 8
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
by Eugene SiIke • More than 1,000 delivery drivers at British Bakeries have rejected their union's call for a strike over a plan to end sales commission payments ( CM 20-26 January).
The United Road Transport Union failed to secure the necessary twothirds majority in a ballot for a one-day-a-week strike. Last week's result is a blow to URTU's hopes of settling the dispute at national level. British Bakeries wants deals at individual plants, ending the sales role of 500 drivers.
Almost 69% of the votes cast were for industrial action, but these amounted to just 54% of the 848 drivers eligible to vote. "The majority are discontented with the proposals but maybe they want to handle it a different way," says URTU assistant general secretary Nigel Rogers. Drivers could lose between £50 and £200 a week, he says.
"We now go back to the structures we already have," says Rogers, referring to four regional agreements covering the firm's 22 bakeries. URTU shop stewards meet on 6 March to decide their stance on the changes.
The company argues that the payments system has been overtaken by changes in the market. Drivers delivering to supermarkets are still paid commission although orders are won by central sales staff, says spokesman Anthony Spiro.
British Bakeries' parent, Rank Hovis McDougall, was bought by conglomerate Tomkins for £935 million in December 1992. Since then four bakeries have been shut with the loss of 1,000 jobs.