Petrol tanker drivers gear up for four-day strike

Trades union Unite claims it is not trying to use fears of fuel shortages as leverage in a dispute involving tanker drivers who deliver petrol to Shell’s UK forecourts.

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A total of 641 Unite members are preparing to walk out for four days from Friday 13th, if their demands for a pay rise are not met.

A spokesman for Unite told MCN the decision to strike was not influenced by the current economic climate, but rather was prompted by the fact that its members are “losing out.”

The number of strikes and strike ballots has not increased over the past six months, he said.

Tanker drivers are in dispute with haulage firms Hoyer UK and Suckling Transport, which are contracted to deliver fuel to 1,000 Shell forecourts in the UK.

The drivers have demanded a 13.2% pay rise, but the haulage firms have offered a 6.5% increase.

Unite also helped to orchestrate a 2-day shut-down of the Grangemouth oil refinery in May, which prompted fears of fuel shortages in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the north of England, which are all supplied by the Fife-based refinery.

The union spokesman said there was “no correlation” between the two strikes, noting that the Grangemouth dispute involved the closure of a final salary pension scheme.

“The disputes at Grangemouth and Shell are completely separate,” he said.

A strike could still be avoided in the Shell case, as representatives of Unite and Hoyer are due to meet with conciliation service ACAS on Monday.