Britain’s tanker drivers have had enough,

Britain’s tanker drivers have had enough, Unite warns
The UK's major oil companies, retailers and independents providing fuel for the nation have been warned by Unite the union that their strategy of squeezing conditions of delivery drivers to feed profits will backfire with potentially serious consequences for the country.
With morale among the estimated 3000 drivers at an all-time low, Unite has written to the leading operators in the fuel sector (see list in Notes below) to warn them that unstable employment, redundancies arising from constant reorganisation of operations and attacks on earnings are forcing the workforce towards conflict.
Such are the scale of the problems that Unite has called an autumn summit to consider the action needed to safeguard stability within the sector. Unite is urging the employers to stop and think again about their employment strategy, offering them this opportunity to enter into discussions now with the union to avert possible industrial action later in the year.
Ron Webb, Unite's national officer for logistics, said: "We have consistently warned the oil employers that their strategy of attacking wages and squeezing more and more out of their drivers but giving them less and less in return will backfire.
"Unfortunately, they have not listened so now we are at a very dangerous moment for this sector. In my fifteen years as a negotiator for this sector I have never witnessed such low morale among the drivers. This is a workforce which is highly specialist and delivers a product this country's smooth functioning depends upon. They are also working for some of the most profitable companies in the land. All they are asking for in return is a wage which reflects their hard work and professionalism."
Unite claims that the greater use of alternative contractors only too willing to undercut other employers is behind the driving down of wages and hitting conditions of employment. In addition, tanker drivers are reporting a brutal management style with little protection for the drivers.
Ron Webb continued: "It is sadly not unusual for a tanker driver to have long service and a good work record yet to find that if they make mistake, have one bad day, they are then sacked. It is now a ‘one strike and you are out’ culture which places drivers under dreadful pressure.
"Time and workers' patience are now running out so we appeal to the key stakeholders to engage with Unite in finding a better way forward. Minimum standards on safety and decent terms and conditions are a prerequisite for success in this sector. So too must the attacks on workers' pensions cease and the merry-go-round where it is not unusual for drivers to have as many as ten different employers with no or poor pensions when they retire. Quite simply enough is enough."
In the letter to the country's leading petroleum sector employers, Unite’s assistant general secretary Len McCluskey, writes:
"We know at this moment in time there are many challenges facing the UK economy, which Unite fully understands and is dealing with in a variety of ways. Notwithstanding this, it is our firm belief that unless the key stakeholders within this particular sector must take considerable note of the serious deterioration in employee morale with the constant threats to continued employment, the constant threats arising from cost down agendas, constant attacks on our members’ terms and conditions of employment, which all give rise to an extremely negative period within this sector."

For further information, please contact Ron Webb on 07976 833 487 or Pauline Doyle on 07976 832 861
Notes: Unite has written to the following employers within the sector:
Asda Stores Ltd
BP Oils Ltd
Conocophillips Petroleum Ltd
Esso Petroleum Company Ltd
GB Oils
Greenergy Fuels Ltd
J Sainsbury PLC
Kuwait Petroleum (UK Holdings) Ltd
Murco Petroleum Ltd
PACE Petroleum Ltd
Petroplus Refining & Marketing Ltd
Shell Tankers (UK) Ltd
Tesco Distribution Ltd
WM Morrisons Supermarkets PLC
Total UK Ltd
Texaco