Motorists in the North have been warned to brace themselves for fuel disruption after dozens of tanker drivers based at the Stanlow oil refinery in Cheshire voted to strike in a dispute over job cuts.
The drivers are employed by Hoyer Petrolog, and union Unite has said they will now strike over 14 days in November, causing "considerable disruption" to fuel supplies for road users and the aviation sector.
Unite said customers of Hoyer that could be affected include Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Shell, Esso, BP, Essar, Motor Fuel Group and Euro Garages.
Hoyer is proposing to make six of the 20-plus workers redundant - a decision the firm said has "not been taken lightly".
The workers who are members of Unite recorded 96.2 per cent of this week's vote in favour of industrial action.
Unite regional officer Steve Gerrard said: “Unite’s members have delivered a stunning mandate in favour of industrial action.
“Despite Unite giving Hoyer every opportunity to resolve this dispute through negotiations, it has refused to do so and as a consequence and as a last resort Unite has announced strike dates.
“Our members regret that their action will cause considerable disruption to fuel deliveries but believe they have no other option in order to save their jobs.
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“Fuel tanker drivers are frontline workers and throughout this pandemic their work has ensured that other frontline workers can continue to go to work. They deserve to be treated better than this.
“The ball is now firmly in Hoyer’s court. It can still avoid strike action occurring by withdrawing the threat of job cuts.”
Hoyer is proposing to make six of the 28 drivers employed on the contract redundant, despite the workers having worked throughout the pandemic.
The company is increasingly using agency drivers to fulfil its delivery requirements.
Earlier this month, Hoyer said it has "some of the best drivers in the industry" who are critical to its services, but said the decision to make redundancies was a result of the "dramatic reduction" in retail and aviation fuel volumes since the lockdown began in March.
During Covid-19, the company’s aviation volumes dropped to just 5% of normal levels, more recently settling at around 40%. The firm said that further tightening of lockdown restrictions will "in no way improve these current volumes" - whilst it is clear "we will not return to ‘normal’ for at least the next 12 months, if at all".
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Hoyer proposed six alternative roles guaranteeing "no redundancies for 12 months" including a temporary short-time working/lay off clause to be used in "extreme circumstances".
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A spokeswoman said last week: “Against an unprecedented economic backdrop Hoyer has strived to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on our business and on the livelihoods of our drivers and staff. Since the start of the crisis we have topped up all wages to 100% of basic pay for all those who have been furloughed and supported by the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
"However, the huge reduction in volumes, with an increasingly uncertain future, means retaining jobs for all our drivers is unsustainable.
“Despite this, we remain committed to working with Unite The Union to ensure that all viable jobs can be secured and we look forward to receiving their costed alternative proposals. In the meantime, we are finalising our contingency plans to ensure any unwanted industrial action will not impact our valued customers or consumers.”
Hoyer was contacted for a fresh comment.