Crisis Talks Due Over Fuel Strike Threat - Sky News

Some 2,000 fuel tanker drivers plan to strike over their working conditions

4:43am UK, Monday April 02, 2012

Talks to avert a threatened strike by fuel tanker drivers will get under way later after the dispute led to a rush on the forecourts last week.

The mediation service Acas is meeting the employers of the 2,000 workers who plan to strike over working conditions.

Further talks between the Unite union and fuel distributors are expected to take place later this week.

The Government has faced a barrage of criticism over its handling of the situation, which saw petrol shortages and long queues at some stations as ministers indicated there could be a threat to fuel supplies.

Fears over a possible strike led to shortages at some stations

Ministers were condemned for urging motorists to keep their petrol tanks topped up, prompting a wave of panic-buying at filling stations.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper accused the Government of deliberately provoking a confrontation with the unions because they wanted to recreate Margaret Thatcher's clash with the miners in the 1980s.

"They created this petrol crisis," she told the BBC's The Andrew Marr Show.

"What they did was they caused a run on the pumps for political reasons because they wanted a 'Thatcher moment'."

Unite has urged the Government to distance itself from speculation that the message to stockpile fuel was part of a deliberate strategy.

Labour MPs have called for the resignation of Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude, who was urged by fire experts to withdraw his advice to motorists to store jerrycans of fuel in garages.

Diane Hill, 46, from York, remained in a critical condition in hospital with 40% burns on Sunday after vapours ignited as she decanted petrol from one container to another.

Diane Hill is in hospital after petrol she had stored ignited

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley dismissed reports that Mr Maude had been urged to resign by two Conservative Cabinet ministers after breaking from the agreed Government line and calling on people to stock up on petrol.

"I have been on the receiving end of this kind of reporting and I think it's all nonsense frankly," he told Sky News' Murnaghan programme.

The Government changed its advice to motorists on Friday after Unite ruled out the threat of strikes over Easter. The union is required to give seven days' notice of any strike.

After urging motorists to fill up if their tanks dropped below two-thirds full, the Department for Energy and Climate Change has now said there is no need to queue at the pumps.

New figures from industry body RMI Petrol showed the volume of petrol sold fell over Friday and Saturday after a high on Thursday.