23 January 2012

Wincanton response to Unite-driven strike

Industrial action commencing at 05.00 on 24 January 2012 at the Kingsbury, Immingham and Stockton-on-Tees fuel terminals

By Chris Kingshott, Wincanton’s Managing Director for Manufacturing

We do not understand why this strike is happening.

We have always had the same objective as our drivers – to extend the current contract and provide them with job security.

We started exploratory discussions with our drivers in June 2011 to establish how we could move to more flexible terms and conditions in order to deliver a market-competitive service to our customer and secure an extension of the contract when it expires. There was never any question that Wincanton would implement new terms and conditions without mutual agreement. These discussions were derailed by Unite, who forced a ballot for industrial action.

Wincanton has confirmed to Unite that in the event of a tender process on the contract, we will fully comply with all legislative aspects of TUPE regulations to protect our employees’ terms and conditions. Unite seems determined that this assurance must come from the customer, but as Wincanton is the employer, TUPE law will be applied.

This strike, which we believe to be wholly unnecessary, could create significant disruption for road-users and fuel retailers. As the biggest UK-owned transport and logistics company, Wincanton has done everything within its power to avoid this threatened strike and has made the relevant contingency plans to minimise the impact.

Despite the claims of Unite press releases about the “greed” of oil giants, contractors, and retailers, it must be remembered that margins within distribution and on the forecourt are slim. This has put pressure on the current fuels distribution model to remain competitive, and has led the retailers to seek additional revenue from convenience stores.

Unite’s picture of today’s UK fuel market is inaccurate and misleading.

We are disappointed that Unite has engineered this dispute to suit a wider agenda and created issues when the contract wasn’t even out to tender. This irresponsible action could now jeopardise the security of the contract and ultimately the jobs of our drivers.