{"id":19452,"date":"2019-11-14T14:11:30","date_gmt":"2019-11-14T14:11:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=19452"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:54:53","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:54:53","slug":"docks-driver-dispute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=19452","title":{"rendered":"Dock drivers dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n<p>The delivery of Volkswagen Group vehicles, which include models from Audi, Porsche and Skoda, could face serious disruption if a Kent-based logistics firm refuses to end a pay freeze for its drivers, Unite said today (14 November).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Drivers at logistics firm GB Terminals (Southern) Ltd based at Sheerness docks, Kent, are being balloted for strike action after the company\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s management walked out of pay negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Unite represents the drivers and other workers who move new <a href=\"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?s=Volkswagen\"><span class=\"s2\">Volkswagen<\/span><\/a> Group vehicles off ferries arriving in Sheerness and process and park them ready to be picked up by car transporters.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The drivers are being balloted after pay negotiations collapsed with no offer from the company, warning that strike action will disrupt the supply of new Volkswagen Group vehicles into the UK.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The drivers have asked for a three per cent pay increase in line with inflation, however GB Terminals (Southern) Ltd, which is part of the GBA group, have sought to impose a pay freeze.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>GB Terminals has also refused an offer by Unite to involve the conciliation service Acas, which has resulted in members being balloted for <a href=\"x-apple-ql-id:\/\/\/word\/unitelive.org\/tag\/strike\"><span class=\"s2\">strike<\/span><\/a> action.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Unite regional officer Philip Silkstone said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bStrike action by our members will seriously delay and disrupt the movement of Volkswagen Group vehicles between Sheerness and dealerships throughout the UK.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt will also effect the distribution of new plate Volkswagen Group vehicles due to come out in March 2020. Moreover, Volkswagen will not be happy to learn that GB Terminals\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 management have refused an offer of talks to resolve the dispute through the conciliation service Acas.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur members are only asking for a fair <a href=\"x-apple-ql-id:\/\/\/word\/unitelive.org\/tag\/pay\"><span class=\"s2\">pay<\/span><\/a><a name=\"_GoBack\"><\/a> rise in line with inflation. It beggars belief that GB Terminals are petulantly refusing to engage in any form of talks over the issue.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite hopes that GB Terminal\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s management will see sense and return to negotiations before the dispute escalates.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Volkswagen Group faces serious delays as Sheerness dock drivers ballot for strike action in pay dispute.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19453,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[333,115],"wps_subtitle":"Volkswagen Group faces serious delays as Sheerness dock drivers ballot for strike action in pay dispute","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19452"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19452"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24864,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19452\/revisions\/24864"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}