Welcome to this Forum. It has been set up so that supporters of the Lower Fuel Tax campaign can discuss the ridiculous levels on Fuel tax in this country.
Article read in the Birmingham Evening Mail :-
(Edition, Sat 28/07/2001).
Key conoco staff at the oil refinery at Kinsbury, West Midlands and at the Tetney oil refinery on the Humber,inluding Tanker drivers are planning industrial action.
This could come in the form of strike action due to down grade of terms and condition and the employment of outside private contractors to do the same work.
Fuel tanker drivers vote for strike action
Shell tanker drivers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action in a dispute over pay.
But their union has held back from naming strike dates after progress was made during talks with employers.
The drivers are employed by P&O Trans-European. They voted by seven to one in favour of a walkout as part of a campaign to win a 5% pay rise.
Ron Webb, national officer of the Transport and General Workers Union, said tanker drivers believed that a decent pay rise was "long overdue".
He added he was confident of making progress to the resolve the dispute.
Story filed: 17:08 Friday 16th February 2001
The RESULT ?????????
Tanker drivers' dispute settled
The threat of a strike by Shell tanker drivers has been averted by the settlement of their pay dispute.
The Transport and General Workers Union said the 350 drivers, who are employed by P&O Trans European, will receive a 5% pay rise.
The drivers had rejected an earlier offer and voted to take industrial action.
Ron Webb, national official of the union, believes the deal will set the standard for the rest of the industry and acknowledges that the company has made an important gesture.
"Everyone knew the stakes were high, even though we thought our claim was modest," he said.
The management at these refineries as you describe them are the w**k*rs.
Nobody likes to hear of people losing their jobs or erradication of their terms and conditions of employment.
It's always the people furthest down from management that suffer !
NO, I'll rephrase the above sentence, management never suffer, brown nosers and yes people will be ok.
Family people with the most to loose will probably suffer the most because they have a LIFE and not totally comitted 100% to their employment.
(as them upstairs see it).
Alot of the front line workers at the refineries probably agree that fuel is too expensive.
This thread is mainly for informative purposes and the outcome, to us reading this post may have no bearing what so ever!
Not taking a dig at you M8 you are one of the (Few ) sensible people that post on these boards.............
All I was trying to say is that : whats the betting they bail out B4 any "action"
People are too accepting of the **** thats thrown at them.
We got laughed at, at the last FP demo's, ( news blackouts confirmed ) then people had the CHEEK to ask us after, what were we gonna do about it & when could they join us at the "next one"
Union - TGWU link on first page has gone belly up.
(Their internet wizard must be on holiday)
So the information below was found from Ananova News :-
Tanker drivers' strike to hit fuel supplies
Petrol supplies could be hit by a 24-hour strike next week of Conoco tanker drivers.
The strike next Tuesday has been called by the drivers' union, the Transport and General Workers' Union.
The stoppage is likely to disrupt deliveries of fuel to hundreds of Jet garages throughout the UK. The 24-hour action will start at 4am on August 21.
The five Conoco depots which will be hit by the stoppage are at Immingham, Jarrow, Plymouth, Belfast, and Kingsbury, Warwickshire.
The dispute centres on Conoco's plans to contract its fuel delivery out to a distribution company.
A strike ballot among Conoco's 130 T&G drivers showed 102 in favour of strike action and eight against.
The T&G says it has not been given the guarantees it sought for the future funding of pensions, profit-related pay and share option scheme for the drivers.
"The message from the drivers was very clear following the ballot. Their determination is also very clear and they will take action," said Danny Bryan, T&G's national secretary for transport.
Another T&G dispute is also threatening to disrupt fuel supplies. Around 100 tanker drivers at P&O's Trans-European spot affreightment division are being balloted on strike action, with the result expected at the end of this month.
The drivers in this division transport bulk chemicals which include additives to fuel.
A few of us from our area will go to our nearest striking terminal to show our support for a hour or two!!hopefully a few more of you out there will do the same don't forget they supported us back in september and who knows one day in the future we may need them again???? If it comes off we will be there
I don't know how many of you saw this but it was shown on Central News Regional Bulletin :-
Greenies forced Esso tanker drivers to turn around on Saturday (18.08.01). 1 day blockage / protest.
Below from Ananova news :-
Roddick launches Body Shop 'Boycott Esso' protest
Body Shop founder Anita Roddick is urging a boycott of Esso over its support for George Bush's withdrawal from the Kyoto protocol.
Ms Roddick will see off lorries plastered with "Boycott Esso" logos from company's headquarters in Littlehampton, West Sussex, at noon.
She will then meet the public and hand out leaflets explaining why they should boycott Esso, which is part of the world's largest oil company ExxonMobil.
The Body Shop claims ExxonMobil is the driving force behind President Bush's refusal to accept the Kyoto accord to limit the production of greenhouse gases.
It says the company continues to refuse to accept the link between oil production and global warming.
The latest attack on Esso comes after Ms Roddick, who is now co-chair of The Body Shop, ran a Boycott Esso campaign in its UK stores.
She has also written to leading UK companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, HSBC and Vodafone asking them not to fill up at Esso stations.
An Esso spokesman says Ms Roddick's claims are a "smear campaign" against the company.
He says Esso does not have an influence over President Bush, and had not contributed to his election campaign.
Monday, 20 August, 2001, 16:42 GMT 17:42 UK
Tanker drivers call off strike
Supplies to 600 outlets would have been affected
A fuel delivery stoppage due for 21 August has been called off by union officials.
The walk-out by Conoco drivers had been called over plans to contract out fuel delivery to a distribution company.
The stoppage would have disrupted deliveries of fuel to hundreds of Jet garages throughout the UK.
However, a spokesman for the Transport and General Workers' Union said: "The strike has been called off following 10 hours of talks between ourselves and the company."
Contingency Plans
A strike ballot among Conoco's 130 TGWU drivers had shown 102 in favour of strike action and eight against.
Contingency plans had been put in place by Conoco to avoid any potential fuel shortages.
The company had also said most filling stations would be able to cope with a 24-hour stoppage.
The union said it had not been given guarantees on pensions, profit-related pay and share options for drivers should a distribution company take over the work.
Following talks the TGWU has now agreed in principle new pay and conditions, which will be put to staff.
Five depots
Dave Blakemore, Conoco's marketing manager, had warned strike action would not be in the interests of either the company or the union's members.
Conoco depots at Immingham on Humberside, Jarrow on Tyneside, Plymouth, Belfast, and Kingsbury, Warwickshire, would have been hit by the stoppage.
American-based oil group Conoco took over Yorkshire-based Jet 40 years ago and supplies fuel to its 600 outlets across the UK.
Almost a year ago supplies to petrol stations across the UK were hit after demonstrators blockaded refineries.
Pumps ran dry as farmers and hauliers picketed outside fuel plants for more than a week.