Sainsbury’s Dartford drivers have voted for strike action after being offered a 1per cent pay rise.
This comes after the company upped the wages of the agency drivers by over 6 per cent, putting then on substantially more money than the core drivers.
I’m on a DHL contract atm and we’re on £6 per hour more.
I would just leave for a higher paid job
There will eventually come a point when even “I wouldn’t be seen dead at an agency” - will say "Oh alright then - for a £10+ph differential…
Everyone sells out eventually… It is just a question of the price that motivates one to get off one’s arse…
I wonder if any striking drivers will be doing a bit of moonlighting… 
The agency are being paid £19 Monday – Friday
£24 an hour weekend and £33 an hour overtime after 45 hours
I have every faith in the Union getting them a good result and averting any strike action. This will prove the power of the Unions to any doubters.
“Our members have signalled that they are willing to take strike action and we will now be moving to opening a formal industrial action ballot". With a 99% agreement by the drivers, DHL do not stand a chance.
Winseer:
"Oh alright then - for a £10+ph differential…P
Nope, not a chance, like the security after 2 years of agency and being screwed over by them amd companies. A lot of people from one of our depkts did this, now several have come back as they weren’t being given the high paying work.
As for DHL - if the union was any good or had a decent portion of the workforce I doubt they’d be offering 1%. Presumably this is after a period of back and forth negotiations or the union are seriously jumping the gun. Even our lot gave out 3% as standard before all this pay increases. Tjen significantly more.
Maybe they just want rid of the fulltimers and are going exclusive agency. Just leave them on strike and eventually they’ll run out of money and return or go get a different job.
trevHCS:
As for DHL - if the union was any good or had a decent portion of the workforce I doubt they’d be offering 1%. Presumably this is after a period of back and forth negotiations or the union are seriously jumping the gun.
There were a lot of agency drivers at DHL along with a lot of Eastern Europeans who would not have been union members which made up a big proportion of the workforce. DHL are now facing the majority of the workforce which will be union members and in a much stronger position to negotiate a better rate. DHL will need to come to terms with they no longer have the cheap labour to pick and choose from.
This could be where it starts to unravel… They will refer to ‘greedy’ hgv drivers in the news causing Christmas to be cancelled due to no stock in shops!
Shortly followed by the general public backing RHA and fta to allow hgv driving on the skills shortage list!
Sent from my LLD-L31 using Tapatalk
I’m not convinced adding it to the skills shortage list will magically make thousands of European based drivers relocate temporarily for not much more/if any more at all money than they can get for staying on the continent…
Our pay offers are not going well either. Started at 1.25% now several months later it’s at 1.5% and our overtime paid 0.10% higher than our basic. Currently all overtime is basic!
I’m beating the drum round the yard and anyone who’ll listen, these pricks are here for the taking this year if we stick together at next ballot.
4 years no rise, no extra for o/t, pish sick pay and they offer 1.25%. No chance! Viva la revolution time to strike and not be replaced by an army of poles and Hungarians at the drop of a hat!
merc0447:
Our pay offers are not going well either. Started at 1.25% now several months later it’s at 1.5% and our overtime paid 0.10% higher than our basic. Currently all overtime is basic!I’m beating the drum round the yard and anyone who’ll listen, these pricks are here for the taking this year if we stick together at next ballot.
4 years no rise, no extra for o/t, pish sick pay and they offer 1.25%. No chance! Viva la revolution time to strike and not be replaced by an army of poles and Hungarians at the drop of a hat!
Is this Tesco, the firm paying £1000 sign on bonuses yet at the same time offering existing staff drivers a 1.25% rise.
These companies just won’t learn. The importance of HGV Drivers to their operation is being laid bare, yet they just can’t come to terms with the idea of parting with the dosh. They will only end up giving it all to agencies.
rob22888:
merc0447:
Our pay offers are not going well either. Started at 1.25% now several months later it’s at 1.5% and our overtime paid 0.10% higher than our basic. Currently all overtime is basic!I’m beating the drum round the yard and anyone who’ll listen, these pricks are here for the taking this year if we stick together at next ballot.
4 years no rise, no extra for o/t, pish sick pay and they offer 1.25%. No chance! Viva la revolution time to strike and not be replaced by an army of poles and Hungarians at the drop of a hat!
Is this Tesco, the firm paying £1000 sign on bonuses yet at the same time offering existing staff drivers a 1.25% rise.
These companies just won’t learn. The importance of HGV Drivers to their operation is being laid bare, yet they just can’t come to terms with the idea of parting with the dosh. They will only end up giving it all to agencies.
I think the companies “learn” just fine. 4 years of working for same money and none of them have done anything about it except moan to each other in the yard and on internet truck forums. And look, they’re saying “no chance!” again 
. Just keep the pay the same, they’ll still be here next year, and the year after that, and the year after that, despite endlessly threatening to leave . All mouth and no trousers.
Jamestross:
Sainsbury’s Dartford drivers have voted for strike action after being offered a 1per cent pay rise.
This comes after the company upped the wages of the agency drivers by over 6 per cent, putting then on substantially more money than the core drivers.
We got a 1% rise in April before the driver shortage hysteria. Agency drivers were on £1 less per hour than us (unless they had parity pay i.e. 12+ weeks). Now company pays £20 per hour for agency drivers our wages haven’t gone up despite more than 1/4 of core drivers having left in 2 months with more asking around about work elsewhere. I suspect they’ll eventually be left with the old ones and the ones with good runs (lots of paid hours but little driving and 0 work)