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Petrol stocks under threat as Jet drivers begin seven day strike

23 January 2012

Fuel supplies will be hit when seven days of strike action gets underway from dawn tomorrow (Tuesday 24 January).

Oil tanker drivers, employed by the road haulage firm Wincanton, are set to walk out in the dispute over attacks on workers' pay, terms and conditions, as the company proposes to slash pay by up to 20 per cent and downgrade workers' pensions, warns Unite, the country’s biggest union. 

The dispute will disrupt fuel supplies to the UK’s 380 Jet forecourts, which are owned by the Texas-based oil giant ConocoPhillips.

The drivers, who operate out of Immingham, will hold a mass, pre-picket rally with family and friends on Tuesday 24 January from 7am. Media are welcome to attend.

Where: ABP Immingham Docks, Immingham, North East Lincolnshire, DN40
When: Tuesday 24 January from 7am-10am

Unite has been warning for over a year that the draconian cost-down agenda pursued by the employers is destabilising the industry. The union has been pushing for government and the industry to stabilise the distribution of this vital national commodity by introducing minimum standards for oil tanker drivers.

Over 200 oil tanker drivers from across the industry attended a mass meeting in Immingham yesterday (Sunday 22 January) to give their support to the striking drivers and to back Unite’s call to end rocketing instability in the sector.

Unite national officer Matt Draper said: “The frustration expressed by Wincanton’s oil tanker drivers can be seen right across the sector. Drivers are under increasing strain, working in a very unstable industry with pressure to deliver fuel round the clock, but where terms and conditions are being slashed.

"It’s time the major players stopped riding roughshod over the drivers.  Only minimum standards can ensure that the dangerous job of delivering fuel is undertaken by highly skilled drivers.  These drivers criss-cross the country delivering up to 38,000 litres of petrol at any one time, the risks are huge but the thanks they get is an attack on their livelihoods.

“Wincanton and ConocoPhillips hold the key to resolving the dispute. They need to get round the table with us to solve this before this instability spreads."

More than 120 of Wincanton’s oil tanker drivers, operating out of the UK’s three major oil terminals: Immingham in north east Lincolnshire, Kingsbury, near Warwickshire and Stockton on Tees in the north east, will walk out for seven days of action from 05.00am on Tuesday 24 January to 04.59am on Tuesday 31 January 2012.

ENDS

For more information, please contact Chantal Chegrinec, Unite campaigns officer, on 07774 146 777 or Matt Draper on 07970 081 519.

Notes to editors

Picket locations: 

1. ABP Immingham Docks, Immingham, North East Lincolnshire DN40
2. Kingsbury oil terminal, Warwickshire Trinity Road, Kingsbury, Tamworth, Staffordshire B78 2EH 
3. Stockton-on-Tees in the north east.