Minimum wage

Heard on radio today Labour saying they want a minimum wage of £10 an hour by 2020/2021

If it happened would you still , for example drive a class 2 when you would earn same for driving 7.5t? Or would you just jump in a van and scrap truck driving or leave industry altogether? Or maybe it might make the industry have to raise their wages to keep drivers which would be good of course?

Be interesting times if it does happen

Personally i reckon i would just jump in a van as no driving regs to worry about but if i didnt i defo wouldnt do anything above 7.5t

A good proportion of van drivers are self employed and don’t get any guarantee of nmw. I think there was a recent deliveroo ruling upholding their self employed status, There is a case that the GMB have raised on behalf of some drivers against DX ongoing.

I doubt very many Amazon couriers achieve NMW unless they can clear their route really fast.

Supply and demand, few people would bother with lorry driving if they could get the same pay and conditions driving a van, if the min is £10 then lorry wages will go up appreciably to attract the staff.

Going to be lots of doleys come the new comrades in power, £10 an hour coupled with unlimited immigration what could possibly go wrong, the country will be overrun with people, and in true labour tradition real jobs will vanish whilst they create several million more non jobs for their mates watching monitoring and indoctrinating the proletariat.

If you want people to invest thousands of pounds to obtain lgv licences then you have to offer higher rates than you could reasonably expect for driving a van.

TiredAndEmotional:
If you want people to invest thousands of pounds to obtain lgv licences then you have to offer higher rates than you could reasonably expect for driving a van.

Though holders of ‘fluffy’ degrees have no such expectations! I always think it’s odd that people ask if it’s worth spending 3k on getting a qualification that should earn them 30 k in two years time, when degrees cost 27kish and half of graduates will only earn the average 26k.

back to the OP, I know if I were to raise my van driavers wages to £10.00 an hour ( they might be around that anyway by then, they are 9.01 ph now), then I’d have to raise the C+E lads wages by an equivalent amount.

albion:

TiredAndEmotional:
If you want people to invest thousands of pounds to obtain lgv licences then you have to offer higher rates than you could reasonably expect for driving a van.

Though holders of ‘fluffy’ degrees have no such expectations! I always think it’s odd that people ask if it’s worth spending 3k on getting a qualification that should earn them 30 k in two years time, when degrees cost 27kish and half of graduates will only earn the average 26k.

back to the OP, I know if I were to raise my van driavers wages to £10.00 an hour ( they might be around that anyway by then, they are 9.01 ph now), then I’d have to raise the C+E lads wages by an equivalent amount.

I could have said pay differentials have always applied between the different licences and it would be detrimental to lgv recruitment if you were getting the same wonga for driving a van. If that situation arose, I don’t think it would, I’d certainly be putting my name down for a van drivers job! The point regarding pay rates for graduates isn’t really relevant as it’s market forces that ultimately determine salaries. For the record, I think some of the salaries I’ve seen on offer for graduates are truly shocking. And they’re paying through the nose for the privilege.

TiredAndEmotional:

albion:

TiredAndEmotional:
If you want people to invest thousands of pounds to obtain lgv licences then you have to offer higher rates than you could reasonably expect for driving a van.

Though holders of ‘fluffy’ degrees have no such expectations! I always think it’s odd that people ask if it’s worth spending 3k on getting a qualification that should earn them 30 k in two years time, when degrees cost 27kish and half of graduates will only earn the average 26k.

back to the OP, I know if I were to raise my van driavers wages to £10.00 an hour ( they might be around that anyway by then, they are 9.01 ph now), then I’d have to raise the C+E lads wages by an equivalent amount.

I could have said pay differentials have always applied between the different licences and it would be detrimental to lgv recruitment if you were getting the same wonga for driving a van. If that situation arose, I don’t think it would, I’d certainly be putting my name down for a van drivers job! The point regarding pay rates for graduates isn’t really relevant as it’s market forces that ultimately determine salaries. For the record, I think some of the salaries I’ve seen on offer for graduates are truly shocking. And they’re paying through the nose for the privilege.

Somone posted an ad for Downtons at Luton that were paying £9.00 for Class 1, I’m down the road paying a penny more for van/7.5 drivers, so I’m in agreement about wage differentials or lack of them being detrimental. You have a qualification and more responsibility, so you should get significantly more.

If market forces determine salaries for graduates, then it’s market forces that determine van and Class 1 drivers wages. Some salaries for graduates are poor, but then some graduates should never have taken a degree in the first place, there are some really carp degrees out there and graduates should be checking what the point of their degree is in the wide world. I’ve a number of friends that have kids at uni, one is doing photography, one is doing drama, one has completed her textiles design degree, one is doing some other arts number. What’s the percentage of grads that will get a good job out of that, they must know that, yet they choose to take it. I’m not saying that there shouldn’t be degrees in those subjects, just that there are too many of them. Pick a STEM degree and you will have a chance of a better paying job and leading onto a structured career with a serious pay packet.