The Stobart Doncaster jobs dispute is set to come to a head, with indefinite strike action kicking-off tomorrow and Labour leader Ed Miliband now tracking the situation.
Unite's 180-members will commence a third period of strike action from 00.05am on Thursday (6 December), after they rejected an improved redundancy offer from Eddie Stobart last week following talks at Acas.
Unite maintains that it is willing to get back around the negotiating table if "genuine goodwill is shown and constructive proposals put on the table", but the situation has become increasingly acrimonious in recent weeks.
Unite national officer Adrian Jones said: "The drivers have been very badly treated by the Eddie Stobart management and will be taking continous strike action in order to save their jobs."
The operator maintains that Unite has been too quick to man the barricades rather than hold meaningful talks to resolve the situation.
Direct action
The drivers will be picketing Tesco's DC at Middle Bank from 10am tomorrow, and Unite members plan a series of demonstrations at former employer Tesco's stores in Doncaster and the surrounding area in the run up to Christmas.
There willl also be a march from the DC to Doncaster town centre this Saturday (8 December) starting at 10am, which has moved Tesco, hitheto silent on the issue to get involved.
The supermarket chain, which still runs the DC’s warehousing but outsourced the transport operation to Eddie Stobart in August, appears to be coming under increasing political pressure as Christmas approaches.
As well as opposition form the mayor of Doncaster, a spokesman for Ed Miliband, who is MP for Doncaster North, confirmed to CM.com that the Labour leader held talks with Tesco last week to discuss the situation.
On the matter, Tesco said only that it had been "in contact with a number of local stakeholders throughout the process". However, last week it issued a statement expressing its disappointment that the drivers hadn’t accepted the improved redundancy package, or taken up any of the alternative jobs roles it and Eddie Stobart has offered them.
David Pickering, Eddie Stobart MD, added: "We’ve worked hard over the past weeks with Unite to come up with the best possible financial package for the drivers. I’m sure they will feel let down by their representation from Unite."
With the 90-day consultation period over, Eddie Stobart could now serve the workers with notification of termination of their roles. It already intends to meet the DC’s transport needs from its wider network, although Unite has argued it will struggle to do so during the current retail peak.
