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Tanker drivers strike suspended at Wincanton | |
(about 9 hours later) | |
A planned strike by fuel tanker drivers on Teesside and in North Lincolnshire has been suspended to allow new talks to go ahead. | |
Members of the Unite union who work for the fuel haulage company Wincanton were due to walk out at 05:00 GMT in a dispute over pay and conditions. | |
However, in a last-minute move the seven-day action was postponed for 24-hours to allow talks to take place. | |
Pickets at sites including Stockton and South Killingholme have stood down. | |
The union claimed the action, which was planned to last for seven days, would hit deliveries to Jet garages. | |
Representatives of the company and the union will meet later. | |
Strike suspended | |
Wincanton said in a statement: "We can confirm that strike action has been suspended pending the outcome of discussions taking place today between Wincanton and Unite." | |
Matt Draper, Unite national officer, said: "Unite hopes that today will see a resolution to this dispute. Wincanton now has an opportunity to get its priorities right." | |
An earlier strike by drivers, following a ballot in January, had only recently ended. | |
Wincanton had been accused of wanting to "annihilate" the pay and conditions of drivers. | |
But in a statement the company said its drivers were "among the best rewarded in the UK". | |
"There was never any question that Wincanton would implement new terms and conditions without mutual agreement," it said in a statement. | |
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