Drivers for Marshalls building supplies will do no night work or overtime
Nearly 200 HGV drivers across the country are to take strike action after their employer, Wincanton, failed to make an acceptable pay offer.
Unite's members work for Wincanton on behalf of Marshalls building supply company whose customers include household names like Travis Perkins, Jewsons, Wickes, Taylor Wimpy and Barrett Homes.
Drivers are furious at a pay offer for 2024 that was a one-off payment of £700 which was worth only 1.6 per cent and a four per cent pay offer for 2025. As a result from 30 June drivers take industrial action resulting in them no longer do overtime work or work overnight away from home.
The drivers are responsible for delivering approximately 3000 products including patio flagstones, bricks, kerb stones, roof tiles, hard landscaping, drainage etc. Customers will see deliveries grind to a halt with a major impact on private and public building projects and fewer supplies available to the general public.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Wincanton’s pay offer is pathetic this is a company that makes millions. Our members have been waiting for ages for a new pay offer and this is just a slap in the face.
“The workers will have the full support of Unite in their dispute."
The drivers had recently been transferred from one employer to another and had agreed to postpone pay talks as a goodwill measure while aspects of employment were resolved. They now feel betrayed by the latest pay offer from Wincanton, a company with billions in revenue [1].
Unite national officer Adrian Jones added: "This is just not good enough from Wincanton. Our members do a physically demanding and skilled job and are expected to work all hours.
“Strike action will inevitably cause huge disruption, delays and increased costs throughout the construction sector but Wincanton has brought this on itself through a failure to make a fair deal. The company needs to come back to the negotiating table with an improved offer otherwise overtime and night work will cease at the end of this month."
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