hi guys
any body got any photos of the miners strike or even the truck drivers strike. can remember miners strike well worked for banks bros (top fellas), can remeber drivers strike as i think ods were allowed to work , went with me dad kept consett fires going i think stories tooo
Hello Woollyback,
I remember the drivers strike well, i worked at a Seddon Atkinson dealership at the time, in the sales department, [ Ryland Warrington ] and the company had it,s own transport arm called Leaderfreight [run by a great bloke called John Scholes ] , whose main work was for Tunnel Refineries, one day the MD, Geoff Ward summons me into his office
and says, would i like to drive one of the tankers to Greenwich in convoy with Tunnel,s London foreman who was not on strike.
Well, to a circa 21 year old, this was heaven, so i said yes and Geoff Ward said bye bye and hurry up. I had never driven a
tanker [SA400 250 ■■■■■■■■ before let alone a fully loaded one, the foreman said, " just follow me and keep up ", bloody terrifying, up hills i felt like i was going backwards, down hill i felt like i was partly in control of a runaway train !!!
I tried to keep up, but down the M6/M1 it became foggy and i was not comfortable doing 65/70 mph when you could not see a hand in front of your face, so i thought sod this, i will be able to find Tunnel,s refinery in Greenwich no problem, it never came to that as somewhere in London i came across the Foremans tanker parked at the side of a busy London street with a broken
propshaft, he gave me a bollocking for not keeping up, told me to abandon the truck behind his, told me where the nearest tube station was, and said bye bye !!! I rang my mum, told her i would be late for my tea and got the train back to Warrington, A great adventure for me and a steep learning curve re tankers, but that was the only strike busting we did, if i remember correctly the strike did not last very long did it ?
woolyback:
hi guys
any body got any photos of the miners strike or even the truck drivers strike. can remember miners strike well worked for banks bros (top fellas), can remeber drivers strike as i think ods were allowed to work , went with me dad kept consett fires going i think stories tooo
Hi Woolyback,I worked in the garage at GW sissons(Sherburn) during the lorry drivers strike.Remember the yard crammed full of units and trailers,all covered in six inches of snow.Wow all those scammel crusaders lined up,wish I had taken some photos in hindsight.You just never think when you are young.Sissons drivers were on picket at British Gypsum in Sherburn mainly.Lilbow73.
Is Sissons still going I often loaded back of them from The Gyp Factory the last I heard Fergys from Blyth had the work plus East Leake Regards Larry Retired owner driver well sort of.
We were out six weeks. I think we were the last to go back on tyneside as our terms didn’t suit us. When the strike started the idea was that we all went back together or not at all. I didnt blame anyone for going back when we were still out but it didn’t help our case.
I vowed after that I would never do it again as we were (IMO) sold down the river by the unions. I often read on these forums that we need a strike to put the industry right!!! dont kid yourselves lads the same thing would happen again. Ps. I would be at work filling my boots (im an O/D) and from people in a similar position as me I get the same impression. regards kevmac47
I put these on the Welsh thread a while ago but for new members here they are again. Taken at Magor heading for Llanwern
I think the driver is telling me too take two photos on this one.
Cheers Phil.
Don’t suppose anyone on the thread would want to hear about the Drivers strike from an employers point of view?------Thought not,fair enough,back to “lightweight” frivolity then! Only “joshing” it was after all a long while ago!! Cheers Bewick.
Bewick:
Don’t suppose anyone on the thread would want to hear about the Drivers strike from an employers point of view?------Thought not,fair enough,back to “lightweight” frivolity then! Only “joshing” it was after all a long while ago!! Cheers Bewick.
Hi Dennis Ye I for one would love to hear your views in I am just of club for a pint .I live in a pit village & their will be lots of old drivers & ex miners in who love to discuss differing opinions fancy coming for a drink & bring that gandy bloke with you they love to hear about strike busting 
regard Alan
Lawrence Dunbar:
Is Sissons still going I often loaded back of them from The Gyp Factory the last I heard Fergys from Blyth had the work plus East Leake Regards Larry Retired owner driver well sort of.
Hi Larry,yes they are still on the go.Not half as big as they used to be.The story goes they were stitched up regally by ES and lost some of their work.Well allegedly!!
revman:
Bewick:
Don’t suppose anyone on the thread would want to hear about the Drivers strike from an employers point of view?------Thought not,fair enough,back to “lightweight” frivolity then! Only “joshing” it was after all a long while ago!! Cheers Bewick.Hi Dennis Ye I for one would love to hear your views in I am just of club for a pint .I live in a pit village & their will be lots of old drivers & ex miners in who love to discuss differing opinions fancy coming for a drink & bring that gandy bloke with you they love to hear about strike busting
Howay there man,I divent want a good hiding like that “■■■■■■” Gandy would get!! I had a good rapport with our local T&G rep if I come across him in a boozer he would insist he bought the first pint!! (told me it came out of T&G exes’s and there was plenty to go at!!) But I bought my share all the same!!! He didn’t have an axe to grind against Bewick Transport!!! Cheers Dennis.
I was involved in both strikes, delivering wooden pallets for the drivers braziers in the first and delivering black oil to the power stations in the second.
It gave me a warm feeling inside to help people who were cold and hungry 
Wheel Nut:
I was involved in both strikes, delivering wooden pallets for the drivers braziers in the first and delivering black oil to the power stations in the second.It gave me a warm feeling inside to help people who were cold and hungry
More faces than the “Town hall clock” !!! I think!!! Cheers Dennis.
Bewick:
revman:
Bewick:
Don’t suppose anyone on the thread would want to hear about the Drivers strike from an employers point of view?------Thought not,fair enough,back to “lightweight” frivolity then! Only “joshing” it was after all a long while ago!! Cheers Bewick.Hi Dennis Ye I for one would love to hear your views in I am just of club for a pint .I live in a pit village & their will be lots of old drivers & ex miners in who love to discuss differing opinions fancy coming for a drink & bring that gandy bloke with you they love to hear about strike busting
Howay there man,I divent want a good hiding like that “■■■■■■” Gandy would get!! I had a good rapport with our local T&G rep if I come across him in a boozer he would insist he bought the first pint!! (told me it came out of T&G exes’s and there was plenty to go at!!) But I bought my share all the same!!! He didn’t have an axe to grind against Bewick Transport!!! Cheers Dennis.
well said Dennis faith restored thought you. Were in gandys camp must be that ginger hair 
revman:
Bewick:
revman:
Bewick:
Don’t suppose anyone on the thread would want to hear about the Drivers strike from an employers point of view?------Thought not,fair enough,back to “lightweight” frivolity then! Only “joshing” it was after all a long while ago!! Cheers Bewick.Hi Dennis Ye I for one would love to hear your views in I am just of club for a pint .I live in a pit village & their will be lots of old drivers & ex miners in who love to discuss differing opinions fancy coming for a drink & bring that gandy bloke with you they love to hear about strike busting
Howay there man,I divent want a good hiding like that “■■■■■■” Gandy would get!! I had a good rapport with our local T&G rep if I come across him in a boozer he would insist he bought the first pint!! (told me it came out of T&G exes’s and there was plenty to go at!!) But I bought my share all the same!!! He didn’t have an axe to grind against Bewick Transport!!! Cheers Dennis.
well said Dennis faith restored thought you. Were in gandys camp must be that ginger hair
Hiya “revman” I started my time in road transport as a mate on an 8 wheeler and trailer so I can claim to ’ ave been there and done it mate" same as the Traffic management team we had,so we never had any “■■■■■■■■” off our drivers about what could be done or couldn’t,fairly,I would add! It was a case of ok “get out of the seat then son” and I’ll do the job my-self!! No hard feelings! Cheers Dennis.
Bewick:
revman:
Bewick:
revman:
Bewick:
Don’t suppose anyone on the thread would want to hear about the Drivers strike from an employers point of view?------Thought not,fair enough,back to “lightweight” frivolity then! Only “joshing” it was after all a long while ago!! Cheers Bewick.Hi Dennis Ye I for one would love to hear your views in I am just of club for a pint .I live in a pit village & their will be lots of old drivers & ex miners in who love to discuss differing opinions fancy coming for a drink & bring that gandy bloke with you they love to hear about strike busting
Howay there man,I divent want a good hiding like that “■■■■■■” Gandy would get!! I had a good rapport with our local T&G rep if I come across him in a boozer he would insist he bought the first pint!! (told me it came out of T&G exes’s and there was plenty to go at!!) But I bought my share all the same!!! He didn’t have an axe to grind against Bewick Transport!!! Cheers Dennis.
well said Dennis faith restored thought you. Were in gandys camp must be that ginger hair
Hiya “revman” I started my time in road transport as a mate on an 8 wheeler and trailer so I can claim to ’ ave been there and done it mate" same as the Traffic management team we had,so we never had any “■■■■■■■■” off our drivers about what could be done or couldn’t,fairly,I would add! It was a case of ok “get out of the seat then son” and I’ll do the job my-self!! No hard feelings! Cheers Dennis.
Dennis, I would be very interested to hear your side of the story.
I was involved in the strike from day one and I have to say my family suffered for my commitment to the cause. As i have said previously, I think the unions sold us down the river as we did have a just cause, but both the TGWU and the URTU would not work together and they were only interested in their own agenda. The result was they could not agree on ANY tactics or strategy to bring this problem to a satisfactory conclusion incase the other union got the credit. Ps this is my opinion only. Others involved will possibly have other views. regards kevmac47
Am I correct in thinking that the B R S did not participate in the drivers strike as well as all the own account fleets as I can’t remember but I think that was the case. I was a shop steward at Sykes Bulk Liquids when it happened and I will add my views of it soon as it may be a long post.
cheers Johnnie
THE STRIKE----It was to put it bluntly–a right “balls up” some could carry on working,others couldn’t!!! IMO if there was going to be a strike,all drivers should have stopped,period! probably 95% of our drivers didn’t want to strike but 4or 5 die hard T&G members were determined to join in,and with the whole industry in uproar at the time which made it impossible to work anyway,my inclination was “well get on with it” lets get it sorted.The strike was ,eventually,made official by the T&G at least so that was us out! But “own account” and G&M drivers wern’t so there ensued the ludicrous system of “permits” to collect and deliver certain products.However,my main customers,one in paticular,was prepared to bear with the strike and assured me that we would continue to have their full support, during, and once the problem was overcome! What really ■■■■■■ me off with the T&G was their promise at the outset of the strike that they would force those employers who were on “bonus schemes” that they would be forced to pay on “the hours” time and a half,double time ect.Which we had always done at Bewick Transport but our local “competitors” persisted in operating a bonus structure which was open to abuse and manipulation.When the strike was “settled” we as employers had to sign a binding agreement with the T&G (Carlisle office) agreeing to the new basic 40hrs,incidentally the Bewick agreement was better than the Carlisle and Penrith district one which the T&G recomended and when I gave our lads the choice of the T&G agreement in full or what we were offering they unanamously chose our deal! but to get back to my “beef” with the T&G,they accepted a gaurantee from the other firms from our area that they would pay the new basic,no mention of time and a half or double time!! So this just allowed them to go back and carry on fiddling the bonus schemes.This meant they could more-or-less carry on paying previous wage rates ,which they did!! On the other hand Bewick Transport payed the new rate and the drivers could see exactly the increase they got!! I lost faith completley with the T&G and from then on in I gave our shop stewards hell at every opertunity(always keeping ahead of the game as regards employment conditions of our drivers!!) I once had,at the time,our two stewards,in my office,tear their cards up and throw them on my desk!! They would sooner have me look after their interests than the T&G union.I’m not looking for any praise but I reckon that notwithstanding the anti social hours and difficulties that were endured in the industry Bewick Transport would have ranked as one of the fairest employers of the time we are discussing.Funnily enough we never had any drivers leave to work for our “competitors” always the opposite,I wonder why? Had enough,so have I!! Cheers Bewick.
Bewick:
Wheel Nut:
I was involved in both strikes, delivering wooden pallets for the drivers braziers in the first and delivering black oil to the power stations in the second.It gave me a warm feeling inside to help people who were cold and hungry
More faces than the “Town hall clock” !!! I think!!! Cheers Dennis.
Maybe, the reason we had pallets was that we collected used paper and cardboard and the lads at Linpac gave us their old pallets for the drivers on strike, we could still run as we had a waste exemption permit.
woolyback:
hi guys
any body got any photos of the miners strike or even the truck drivers strike. can remember miners strike well worked for banks bros (top fellas), can remeber drivers strike as i think ods were allowed to work , went with me dad kept consett fires going i think stories tooo
This is turning out to be a good thread Brian, your dad must have some memories was he working for Donkeyfreight then?
At the time of the strike I was working for Mothers Pride Bakeries as Bakery Manager at Chesterfield bakery, a medium sized plant using about 200 tons of flour weekly and other ingredients and packaging materials. Rank Hovis McDougall was the parent company and the Ranks flour tanker drivers didn’t join the strike, so no problems with flour deliveries. Other ingredients did become a problem but I had contacts in the haulage industry with small family hauliers whose drivers were working and they collected products from the manufacturers and delivered to my bakery and several others within the group. Those small hauliers did very well out of the strike, working 7 days weekly making deliveries. I recall that the only time a load didn’t get through was a delivery to Jacksons at Hull, (not part of MP but British Arkady at Manchester used the same hauliers that I had sent in there), where Hull drivers had closed the town off (easy to do if you look at a map) and Ray Holden’s driver thought discretion was better than valour and turned round after being confronted by the pickets.
I did have a problem when salt stocks started to run out, but got around it by getting my two main bakery shop stewards, Bakers Union and URTU (for the driver-salesmen) to sign a letter stating that we supplied hospitals, schools, and old peoples’ homes with bread. I then took one of our 16-tonner vans to Winsford for a load of salt and first had to go in front of a TGWU Committee to plead my case and present the letter from my shop stewards. They approved my collection request but reduced my allocation from 20 tons to 10 tons, something I had anticipated, and I could only get 10 tons on the four wheeler anyway!
The next problem was shortage of packaging materials and BXL at Darton was was shut down because of picketing drivers. Because I was one of the very few senior managers within the group with an HGV licence I was ordered by my group Director to go to Darton and break the picket line. So with another manager riding shotgun I set off in some trepidation for BXL’s plant. When I got there there were only 2 pickets on the gate, the rest, mainly Texaco drivers were in the pub having a meeting. So I got in without too many problems. Getting out fully loaded with packaging for my bakery and others within the group was different though, by then the pub meeting had finished and knowing there was a lorry inside loading, reinforcements had been brought in from elsewhere. It was hairy getting out but I did it and thereafter other collections were made from BXL.
As stated by Bewick unless you get 100% solidarity and inter-union co-operation a strike will never succeed. Also the employers will do whatever it takes, and costs, to break a strike.