Sharp ■ Informed ■ Challenging
9.8.21
Anger over pay and conditions isn’t building sufficient support for action
HGV drivers divided on nationwide strike plan O N WA R D & U P WA R D W W W. M TAWA R D S .CO . U K
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Doubts are growing that there is sufficient support for a planned national HGV drivers’ strike. Action originally planned for 23 August has been delayed as the organiser, the Professional Drivers Protest Group, seeks to build support to 5,000 drivers. It now has some 3,800 members. The strike threat stems from anger among drivers at wage levels and conditions and contempt for some of the bonuses supermarkets and logistics operators have recently offered (see below). But support on the group’s Facebook site, ‘HGV drivers on STRIKE United Kingdom’, has been muted. One driver who asked who would be supporting the strike had received only 13 affirmative replies as MT went to press. Another questioned why the Facebook site did not have more members when there were over 600,000 drivers in the UK. One commentat or on TruckNetUK said: “The industry is too fragmented and drivers only care about themselves. Just give up all this talk of strikes and unions. It is never going to happen. Ever.”
Photo: Shutterstock
By Carol Millett and Tim Wallace
The RHA said the strike plan was both “unhelpful and counterproductive” and warned it would only put more pressure on the supply chain by exacerbating the driver shortage. Meanwhile, the government has rejected pleas for temporary foreign visas for EU workers and for HGV drivers to be put on the Shortage Occupation List. Instead, a consultation has been launched on allowing drivers to take one test for both an articulated and rigid truck, which would allow some learners to take the articulated lorry driver practical test without needing to pass their rigid test first. RHA MD of policy and public affairs Rod McKenzie said that extra problems caused by the ‘pingdemic’ had “now eased off” and that some of its members had “never been busier”. “But many others are saying they
can’t find drivers and can’t fulfil orders,” he added. “I can think of one very large general haulier that is very worried that it has got so many vehicles parked up. Smaller and medium-sized companies are also having serious issues.” McKenzie also warned that the bonuses being offered to drivers would not help. “All we’re doing is poaching from one company to the next using the same limited pool of drivers,” he said. “We need long-term solutions, which is about recruiting fresh blood by paying decent wages and having reasonable conditions. Younger people don’t like the tramping lifestyle that’s presented. So the creative companies are thinking around different roles and how they can dice and slice orders so they can meet customer demands but make the job more attractive for new staff.”
TAKE THE BAIT: John Lewis Partnership (JLP) has joined a growing list of supermarkets and logistics operators offering incentives to drivers amid the current industry labour shortage. JLP and Waitrose HGV drivers have been offered a pay rise of around £2 per hour across all regional and national distribution sites. Around 900 drivers currently employed will benefit from the higher pay rates. JLP is also offering a welcome payment of £1,000 to new HGV drivers with C+E licences joining the business before November. It is also establishing a new driver training programme. The move follows news that Marks and Spencer is to pay new HGV drivers a £2,000 sign-on bonus. The retailer’s offer tops Tesco’s recently announced incentive of a £1,000 bonus for new drivers, but falls behind Gist’s new offer of a £5,000 bonus. Other supermarkets promising bonuses and pay rises include Aldi, which has raised its driver pay rates, and Asda, which also recently announced a £1,000 sign-on bonus for new drivers.
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