Drivers vote on pay deal
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VVincanton negotiations reach ballot stage a year on. Andy Salter reports.
MORE THAN 60 drivers at Wincanton's Maltby, South Yorks, depot are to be balloted on strike action over pay, more than a year after negotiations began.
John Evans, regional industrial organiser for the Transport & General Workers Union. says: "The policy of the T&G is to get drivers on £10 an hour and £25,000 a year. At this moment in time there hasn't been an offer which would take the pay over £20,000."
He reports that the drivers cur rently earn £18,092 for an average 55-hour week. "It works out at £6.28/hour," Evans adds. "We want to protect their earnings and ensure the 48-hour working week is complied with as well."
A spokesman for Wincanton says: "We have an offer on the table which is in excess of inflation and we have not been notified of any ballot on industrial action."
But Evans says the current offer was overwhelmingly rejected by the drivers in an earlier ballot.