Fuel Card News Motoring Updates: Unease remains despite a vote against fuel tanker strikes

Tanker drivers working at fuel distribution firm Hoyer have voted against strike action.

Of the 500 tanker drivers who were re-balloted, 57.5 percent have voted to instead take action short of strike – a refusal to perform full duties.

Hoyer delivers fuel for Shell and is one of six companies involved in the dispute over minimum standards for tanker drivers, which last month led to panic-buying at the forecourts and left a number of petrol stations without fuel.

However, the Unite union of tanker drivers has said that a “significant minority” (39.2 percent) of drivers also voted for strike action and that there remains unease in the industry.

Unite assistant general secretary, Diana Holland, says: “The vote in favour of action short of a strike demonstrates that deep concerns still remain in an increasingly insecure and unstable industry.

“Tanker drivers face a daily race to the bottom where contracts are chopped and changed. It is in everyone’s interest to bring order to the chaos gripping a vital industry through the introduction of industry wide minimum standards.”

Following eight days of ACAS-led negotiations, tanker drivers are now voting in a national consultative ballot, with the results to be announced this Friday (11 May).

In other news, the government has announced the introduction of screening devices to test for drivers under the influence of drugs, including those prescribed by a doctor. Drivers found under the influence may face a prison sentence.

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