UK tank driver strike averted

In the UK, a strike by fuel delivery road tanker drivers has been averted after drivers voted to accept proposals tabled after eight days of mediated talks among key stakeholders, according to Unite, the labour union representing the drivers. Unite called the vote “narrow,” reporting that drivers voted to accept the proposals by 51 per cent on a turnout of 69 per cent. 

Tanker driver members of Unite voted to strike in March “in a dispute over safety and growing instability in the fuel industry,” the union has said. The strike action was later put on hold after a mediation agency agreed to take part in talks. Unite has said that drivers from seven road tanker companies were involved in the original strike ballot: Turners, Norbert Dentressangle, Wincanton, BP, Hoyer, DHL and Suckling. According to Unite, the majority of voters from all the companies except two – DHL and Suckling – favoured strike action. The majority of DHL drivers voted in favour of action short of a strike, and Suckling drivers voted against both strike action and action short of strike.

Several of the companies affected have issued statements defending their health, safety and training standards. The union says that the newly accepted proposals include the introduction of an industry-wide accreditation covering health, safety and training.