Tesco drivers in Scotland who are being balloted on strike action over changes to their terms and conditions have won backing from delegates at the Scottish TUC conference.
Mike Brider, the Transport & General Union's Scotland regional secretary, told the conference that Tesco's plans to change conditions for the 250 drivers at the Livingston depot are "merely a testing ground for a nationwide agenda".
A Tesco spokeswoman describes the union's allegations as highly misleading
but declines to comment on allegations that planned changes would involve derecognising the union and building a no-strike agreement into any future deals. She adds: "Suggestions from the union that staff will lose up to £5,000 are nonsense. We're changing the way we pay our existing staff - not what we pay them".
Brider says: "The T&G is clear that we see this attack on our members in Livingston as a first step by Tesco against all the distribution depots. The reports we have received from our shop stewards suggest that Tesco management is already sabre-rattling in depots across Great Britain."
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