Drivers find that fortune favours the courageous

Drivers at the Scottish Courage brewery have voted to call off their intended strike action and accept a new three-year pay deal.

The company had planned to recruit new drivers on different pay rates according to which part of Scotland they would be working, but a revised offer - negotiated with the T&G general union in lengthy talks involving Acas - was agreed in a workplace ballot by 76 to 23.

The new deal will give the company's existing drivers a pay rise from £21,116 to £23,173 (9.7%) this year, with further increases based on the Retail Prices Index (RPI) in March 2005 and 2006.

New drivers will be recruited on £21,116, and the RPI increases will be applied to this figure.

Negotiations will also be held on Scottish Courage's incentive bonus scheme.

Although new recruits will be paid less than existing drivers, T&G regional industrial organiser Pat Rafferty pointed out that there would only be one rate for the new drivers, rather than the two rates that were originally proposed.

"We made progress in terms of a pay rise, have kept the sick-pay scheme with no reductions and gained agreement in terms of bank-holiday working," he added.