Unions…never was any good, and never will be, ive a few stories to tell about them, but may do it later. At this moment in time we are deep in recession, everyone is cutting back ( especially transport ) the costs are rising for hauliers, and drivers are still demanding, get real it will get worse before it gets better, and i dont care who is striking or who is not happy with his lot, i have always believed that if you dont like where you are working, leave and find something else, or grin and bear it till something better comes along. I have always looked after number 1, so i sure as hell aint gonna change a habit of a lifetime, and if that means crossing a picket line, then so be it. I think a lot of drivers shout a lot on the screen about what they would do, but if the boss says cross that line or be sacked they will cross that line, times are tough, as a driver, they always have been, some are better off than others, some a lot worse, but the majority are looking after themselves, make no mistake about that, and i couldnt give a toss whether stobart, tesco, even the queen herself was on strike, it wouldnt affect me one bit, cos at the end of the day, there is only one winner, and its not the driver. I have witnessed many strikes over the years, been involved in them too, lost a lot of money, lost jobs, and achieved absolutely F.A. Of course one can feel a certain amount of sympathy toward anyone whos about to lose their job, but no amount of strikes will make the boss think they have got it wrong, it will enhance the job opportunities for someone else…and thats all it will achieve.
happysack:
I’m a green scum also. my neighbour was telling me how bad my pay was… Until I showed my payslips for last few weeks. Now he wants to come off his “best job in the world” on European fridges and do chipliner work.
everyone things they know the ins and outs of stobarts pay untill they read it in black and white i have shushed many a driver slating me when they saw me in a green shirt 
took me 8 months to get on with a firm that pay the same if not slightly more some weeks
fact is people can slag em off all they want but the fact is the wages are alright if your willing to work for em
ps how is life on the chiplinners pal
truckyboy:
Unions…never was any good, and never will be, ive a few stories to tell about them, but may do it later. At this moment in time we are deep in recession, everyone is cutting back ( especially transport ) the costs are rising for hauliers, and drivers are still demanding, get real it will get worse before it gets better, and i dont care who is striking or who is not happy with his lot, i have always believed that if you dont like where you are working, leave and find something else, or grin and bear it till something better comes along. I have always looked after number 1, so i sure as hell aint gonna change a habit of a lifetime, and if that means crossing a picket line, then so be it. I think a lot of drivers shout a lot on the screen about what they would do, but if the boss sayscross that line or be sackedthey will cross that line, times are tough, as a driver, they always have been, some are better off than others, some a lot worse, but the majority are looking after themselves, make no mistake about that, and i couldnt give a toss whether stobart, tesco, even the queen herself was on strike, it wouldnt affect me one bit, cos at the end of the day, there is only one winner, and its not the driver. I have witnessed many strikes over the years, been involved in them too, lost a lot of money, lost jobs, and achieved absolutely F.A. Of course one can feel a certain amount of sympathy toward anyone whos about to lose their job, but no amount of strikes will make the boss think they have got it wrong, it will enhance the job opportunities for someone else…and thats all it will achieve.
That sounds very reasonable to me, look after yourself because in this day and age no one else will.
Some of the ignorant comments on this thread crack me up. As for the anti Union parasites… same old tired arguments… ■■■■!
Grow some… and stop leeching off those who fight for their rights to maintain wages and working conditions, as you are doing no-one any favours. Not even yourselves. Cos if you don’t you are all in danger of working for minimum wage, less if management can get away with it, and that day is closer than you think. Don’t believe it or can’t see it? Witness what is happening now.
cliffton 27:
happysack:
I’m a green scum also. my neighbour was telling me how bad my pay was… Until I showed my payslips for last few weeks. Now he wants to come off his “best job in the world” on European fridges and do chipliner work.
took me 8 months to get on with a firm that pay the same if not slightly more some weeks
fact is people can slag em off all they want but the fact is the wages are alright if your willing to work for em
ps how is life on the chiplinners pal
Serious question…What BASIC does a Monday to Friday Day man earn gross? What bonus’s are added to this figure? ie meal allowanace, attendance, fuel efficiency etc.
Same question to any former Donny Tesco drivers…
My understanding was that ESL pay day rate £7.20 per hour guaranteed 10 hours = £72 per day = £360 per week = £18720 pa.
Not great if this is still true. I have seen propaganda from Stobarts making the wages look attractive by including night out allowance, and other benefits within their calculations to show upto £38,000 as an achievable salary. I found this to be offensive as these ‘allowances’ are in no way ‘salary’. One should not have to spend 5 nights out in order to earn a decent living wage.
If you were on holiday you would only get your basic pay.
If ESL were to increase the basic pay and do away with the bonus’s this would result in them having to pay increased holiday pay. At least currently they can avoid paying a lot of the bonus’s through failure of meeting one of many qualifying criteria.
Solly:
:lol: Some of the ignorant comments on this thread crack me up.
Grow some… and stop leeching off those who fight for their rights to maintain wages and working conditions, as you are doing no-one any favours. Not even youselves. Cos if you don’t you are all in danger of working for minimum wage, less if management can get away with it, and that day is closer than you think. Don’t believe it or can’t see it? Witness what is happening now.
I have never understood the logic of going on strike to get more money, it is virtually guaranteed that you will lose out in the long run.
Agreed. Sometimes that happens. Although it must be remembered, the decision to go on strike is never an easy one, and it is usually taken by a frustrated workforce against a management who will not listen to it’ workers concerns about their future. It is invariably…always a last resort.
Solly:
@waddy640Agreed. Sometimes that happens. Although it must be remembered, the decision to go on strike is never an easy one, and it is usually taken by a frustrated workforce against a management who will not listen to it’ workers concerns about their future. It is invariably…always a last resort.
Management invariably plead poverty no matter how good or bad business is.
waddy640:
Solly:
@waddy640Agreed. Sometimes that happens. Although it must be remembered, the decision to go on strike is never an easy one, and it is usually taken by a frustrated workforce against a management who will not listen to it’ workers concerns about their future. It is invariably…always a last resort.
Management invariably plead poverty no matter how good or bad business is.
'Nuff said. 100% correct.
Solly:
:lol: Some of the ignorant comments on this thread crack me up.
Grow some… and stop leeching off those who fight for their rights to maintain wages and working conditions, as you are doing no-one any favours. Not even yourselves. Cos if you don’t you are all in danger of working for minimum wage, less if management can get away with it, and that day is closer than you think. Don’t believe it or can’t see it? Witness what is happening now.
Spot on, but we’re in strange company here, the sort of blokes you’re not sure you would want backing you up in a deadly situation.
You can see the winners in the race to the bottom, and they’re going willingly, chanting me me me.
This could happen to any driver on this board with decent pay and conditions. You’ve got a decent salary 28k + with decent hours 48-50hrs, hours that resemble what normal folk work and boom tinlker comes along slings a £7.20 contract on the table and says hey if you want to earn the same you need to work 60-70 hours a week now 
I work to live not live to work. I dont want to work mental hours to earn a decent living. I know tesco are the baddys here with their 1 billion profits but stobarts are born and breed for this sort of nasty business.
rate cutters now wage cutters!
Juddian:
Spot on, but we’re in strange company here, the sort of blokes you’re not sure you would want backing you up in a deadly situation.You can see the winners in the race to the bottom, and they’re going willingly, chanting me me me.
Agreed…and to be honest mate, I don’t understand the mentality of some of the drivers on this forum. Yes…there are some good transport companies out there that treat their drivers well… but they are few and far between, and the others… ■■■■.
What really gets me down are those drivers who don’t realise how, what they have now was fought for in the past by Union members. The benefits from those disputes were awarded to non-Union members also, but that seems to stand for ■■■■-all. As for those who are “Racing to the bottom” they don’t know what they are doing or realise that it is coming sooner rather than later. Lets see how they react then.
merc0447:
This could happen to any driver on this board with decent pay and conditions. You’ve got a decent salary 28k + with decent hours 48-50hrs, hours that resemble what normal folk work and boom tinlker comes along slings a £7.20 contract on the table and says hey if you want to earn the same you need to work 60-70 hours a week nowI work to live not live to work. I dont want to work mental hours to earn a decent living. I know tesco are the baddys here with their 1 billion profits
rate cutters now wage cutters!
Yep. Every penny he cut’s from driver wages is a penny in HIS pocket.
Pimpdaddy:
No it’s not it’s reality & people need to grow up & deal with it(should have thought about it before taking the job & being such lazy bar stewards) I wouldn’t work for for tesco for any amount of money or if they held a gun to my head…!
Total BS
Don’t try any tell me that if Tesco offered you a job with high pay, good pension, free shares and less work you wouldn’t jump at it FFS … If you wouldn’t then you truly are an idiot … to post that if you meant it shows just how jealous you are.
haribo4000:
Lol lol. Crappy stobarts, rubbish outfit called stobarts, stobarts this, stobarts that. Get a life lol lol
You may earn good money but not as good as a Tesco employed driver and you know damm well that if while pulling loads out of Tesco they offered you a better paid job with a company that gives better benefits you would take it… I had the same choice in 1994, I contracted to Tesco and saw their drivers earn more money and be treated better and yes ! I was jealous … when they offered me a full time job I snapped at it and so would anyone in their right mind.
I have had lots of dealing with senior managemnet at Stobbarts, in particular that stuck up tart that used to recruit drivers. I told her I couldn’t take any pay cut to work for a company like that.
Yes stobarts pay 7.20 ph, look around and that’s pretty average for any transport company. Then stick the tax free meal allowance on, which is more than most companies pay, plus the driving bonus which to be honest I’ve never lost out on. And its not bad at all. Yes, i agree, when on holiday you are down to basic wage but that’s only 5 weeks of the year. I can live with that. I enjoy working for stobarts, they are not a bad bunch at all. The thing that I don’t like about working for them is the dirty looks and comments I get in RDC’s. I am like anyone else, I will work here and earn my money, but I will always be looking for something better. Until that comes along I will continue to be happy and get on with what I have. I could be in a worse position that’s for sure.
I wouldn’t say im jealous & call me an idiot if you like. I think there’s more to life than money & above all tesco-as said previously if offered a job by them driving I’d tell them where to shove it(then they’d offer it to people like you who’d do it). The way tesco operate doesn’t suit my life personally or professionally…
The trouble with a low paying basic rate made up with bonus and allowances is that if/when you come to want to buy a house, then its only the basic rate that gets used in calculations for a mortgage. My basic is £32k a year and that would struggle to get me a mortgage so how somebody on £18k would do it is beyond me.
Haribo4000,are you actually saying you get other drivers giving you ■■■■ in RDC’s because you work for stobarts?? I’m not doubting what you say, but if that’s the case then some people need to have a long hard look at themselves, what’s going to be next, running stobart wagons off the road■■?
They were on £11ph for pulling shopping trollys but now have to put up with the going rate like most drivers, fair enough i think. still a pay cut of £4ph is a bit steep.