Opinions please
Thursday I went for a interview for a class 1 driver, it was a new set up, brand new warehouse etc, doing intersite trunking (4+ sites - 6k pallet capacity overall) with wag+drag
I quite liked the idea of that position until the details became apparent.
45 hours per week (though generally working less)
£7 per hour 
23 days holiday + stats (not worked)
4% contributory pension etc
sickness @ SSP
working Mon-Fri start times 03:00-05:00, and possible finished by noon
£7 x 45hrs = £315p/w X52 weeks = £16380 per Year 
however, there is little or no overtime payments or prospects (only the occasional saturday morning which are paid @ x 1.5)
their idea is that maybe you`ll work 47hrs 1 week, then maybe finish early & work only 43hrs another week suposably balancing out
Should i bother returing the forms they asked my to fill out and return?
Jesus Pierre i agree with you tear it up will they get the drivers at them rates or are they after poles its about 10 k short of a decent wage and i wonder what the dorks in the office salaries will be and they don,t have the stress or the hassle that the drivers get ,I have a mate who has gone to work in a local quarry tidying up and covering opperator breaks on annulised hours of 2100 hrs per year and his starting salary is 19000 going up to 22500 after 6 months training with no stress 
peirre:
Opinions please
working Mon-Fri start times 03:00-05:00, and possible finished by noon
£7 x 45hrs = £315p/w X52 weeks = £16380 per Year
however, there is little or no overtime payments or prospects (only the occasional saturday morning which are paid @ x 1.5)
their idea is that maybe you`ll work 47hrs 1 week, then maybe finish early & work only 43hrs another week suposably balancing out
I work for a company in Worksop for mid 21K per year and I thought we were hard done to. It`s only the shift pattern that keeps me there.
The job that you were offered Pierre with those rates is down right criminal. I hope they get the drivers that they deserve!!!
That is crap for your area Peirre.
The sad thing is that it would be almost decent down here, class 1 rates are about £6 - £6.50 per hour
it seems I was the 1st of only 5 peeps invited to the interview process
I`m toying with following through with the process to see how it pans out and then :
- telling em to shove it
- negotiating to a more realistic rate
one of the guys (warehouse manager) who was present at the interview did ask me later about the quality of the pay rate, but I side stepped the question
Oh well it looks like they`ll end up with, newbies, poles, or absolute numpties driving their truck, which will prolly cost em in the long term.
but on the plus side…the agency work is picking back up 
Tell them to put it where the sun don’t shine.
Ken.
Depends what your “plan b” is. If it’s the only thing in the pipeline, then go along with it and see if you can re-negotiate, or do it until something better comes along.
If agency work is picking up, and you can wait for it, then steer clear.
I was offered a position at ARLA in Nottingham a few months back - at £6.33ph! I thought about it for a couple of seconds.
There was me on £25.800 (basic) a year and doing less than 11 hours a day Monday to Friday , 30 days holiday and need to work most stats, maybe its not that bad where I am after all.
It sjust the sphincters that run it that makes it so bad.
Edward Teller:
Have sent you a PM.
Have you got it.
yup got it
I`ll consider it
i was offered a job paying £19,500 for a 45 hour week and i turned it down. dont undervalue yourself. in most areas, a class 1 driver is worth £22000+ these days. if people give in, the money will never go up
Its the way things are going im sad to say 
Where is it all going to end 
Talking to 2 ********** drivers this week, seems that ******* have bought them out.** now want to ‘re-negotiate’ wages.They pay the poles on for them now £***p/h so the ****** boys will be dropping that much money they all want out.Can you blame them?Mind you when they go , guess who will step into their shoes.I suppose someone will come on here now and defend the influx of E.E drivers(you know, the , leave them alone they are hard workers etc etc) but I for one am fed up with the state were in, we should and could have all be earning A LOT more when firms were crying out for decent uk drivers , who were scarce,so the story goes.Now wages are stagnent at best because firms have a cheap and willing workforce on tap, some of whom can’t drive properly or even read our road signs.Fed up with it.By the way I AM NOT IN ANY WAY RACIST SO ALL YOU PC DO-GOODERS CAN STOP PANICKING, i’m just a fed up proffessional driver having a rant…long week, need beer 
scanny77:
if people give in, the money will never go up
I do agree with you, but, unfortunately doing this wouldn’t actually make any difference - as far as I know, there is no shortage of Polish, Romanian etc drivers willing to take on the work that we refuse on a matter of principle.
In a perfect world it would make employers sit up and take notice, but it’s not 
It also depends very much on your personal circumstances, and sadly, sometimes people can’t afford to take that sort of stand.
Blimey talk about the North / South thing I have just left a class 2 job on scrap metal skips 40 hours g/teed at 8/hr and overtime at 1.5x after that. Easy as pie job, no agro, it was dirty mind, but still a no brainer.
Although it wasn’t the prime reason for leaving the significant pay increase certainly helped.
Bananaman:
£7 x 45hrs = £315p/w X52 weeks = £16380 per Year
That’s what I get for driving a van…
I get more than that for driving a van!
jammymutt:
There was me on £25.800 (basic) a year and doing less than 11 hours a day Monday to Friday , 30 days holiday and need to work most stats, maybe its not that bad where I am after all.
It sjust the sphincters that run it that makes it so bad.
I sometimes think the money could be better , but when you read what is being offered around the country then it isn’t that bad at all .
grumpybum:
It also depends very much on your personal circumstances, and sadly, sometimes people can’t afford to take that sort of stand.
i know. thats why i am still with the agency. i have had offers but nothing i would accept. however, that may be changing soon depending on shifts and pay. i should hopefully find out soon
scanny77:
grumpybum:
It also depends very much on your personal circumstances, and sadly, sometimes people can’t afford to take that sort of stand.
i know. thats why i am still with the agency. i have had offers but nothing i would accept. however, that may be changing soon depending on shifts and pay. i should hopefully find out soon
I confess the agency work can become addictive, and you can become too comfortable doing it.
what with the ability to pick/choose pay/hours giving you a decent standard of income, and an aspect of social life to boot.
but to update the original subject of my post, I intend to return the paperwork for the application, however there is a section asking about pay expected.
I have outlined MY expectations which are higher than the original offer, so if they arnt willing to offer me the Job at a rate that I think is reasonable, then I wont loose sleep over it