Drivers take Edcrest to tribunal over pay
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by Miles Brignall • Drivers in dispute with the Dutch-owned haulier Edcrest over lost wages are threatening to reveal allegedly damaging information about the way the firm is run to vehicle examiners investigating the firm's Sittingbourne headquarters.
Eleven drivers in Kent are taking the company to an industrial tribunal seeking damages after promises of the money on 17 March failed to materialise. Drivers at the Preston and Birmingham depots are also going to tribunal, say union officials. The Vehicle Inspectorate has confirmed it is investigating the Sittingbourne site. The 11 drivers say they have not been paid for all the hours worked, particularly at border crossings which can take up to 26 hours. They also claim running money has been deducted from wages.
Transport & General Workers Union Kent area officer Wally Bradley, who is representing the drivers, says the union is going to fight Edcrest "all the way". The union says the company agreed to pay the back wages at a meeting with Graad de Rooy, brother of Edcrest owner and managing director Jan de Rooy, but it says the money never arrived. The drivers claim they are owed between £1,200 and £3,000 in lost pay.
One driver, formerly based at Birmingham, who worked for the firm for five years, says he is going to a tribunal claiming constructive dismissal. He has made a number of allegations concerning maintenance and drivers' hours and is threatening to repeat his claims if the matter goes before a tribunal. Bradley says: "Many of the drivers feel they've been treated badly by the firm and if the traffic examiners start interviewing the drivers at Sittingbourne, they may well make further allegations."
Phil Morris, personnel director for Edcrest, says the firm will be meeting drivers' representatives next Tuesday (10 April) where a settlement should be reached. He dismisses drivers' allegations of improper behaviour as sour grapes but would not discuss the matter further.