Drivers who work for landscape products firm Marshalls are to stage a one day strike on Monday June 13 because of their long-running overtime pay dispute.

The disagreement concerns the overtime payment disparity for the LGV drivers who deliver to customers from 14 different manufacturing sites around the country.

For any overtime worked, drivers are paid time and a third, whereas manufacturing employees receive time and a half.

The UK’s biggest trade union, Unite, is representing the team of drivers and has warned that if the issue is not resolved then industrial action will escalate.

The union notified two of Marshalls’ biggest customers, Jewson (over 600 branches) and Travis Perkins (almost 2,000 outlets) that they were likely to encounter disruption due to the strike. However, Marshalls said that it will prevent this from happening thanks to its contingency plans.

John Allott, Unite national officer for construction and allied trades, said that the decision in favour of industrial action shows the Marshalls drivers feelings of anger regarding pay and the hostile attitude of the firm’s management.

He added that workers didn’t want the situation to result in industrial action that will cause disruption to the firm’s two biggest clients.

However, he insisted that in the face of such increasingly combative management, the union’s members have signalled their intention to take their fight for better pay and justice to the next level.

Meanwhile, a Marshalls spokesperson commented that the firm is naturally disappointed that its HGV driver Unite members have decided to take strike action, especially when the firm has made attempts to communicate with them over the issues in question.

The company insists that it offers very competitive packages for its drivers, with rates above the average pay rate for the industry.

Along with attractive working patterns, the company says it has no difficulty in attracting drivers, many of which have been with Marshalls for many years.