Fuel supplies could be hit when seven days of strike action gets underway from dawn tomorrow (Tuesday, 24 January).

Oil tanker drivers, employed by the road haulage firm Wincanton, are set to walk out in the dispute over what they say are attacks on workers' pay, terms and conditions, as the company proposes pay cuts of up to 20 per cent and an attack on their pensions, claims Unite, the country’s biggest union.

The dispute could disrupt fuel supplies to the UK’s 380 Jet forecourts, which are owned by the Texas-based oil giant ConocoPhillips.

The drivers, who operate out of Immingham, will hold a pre-picket rally with family and friends invited on Tuesday, 24 January from 7am.

Unite has been warning for over a year that the draconian cost-down agenda pursued by the employers is destabilising the industry.

The union has been pushing for government and the industry to stabilise the distribution of this vital national commodity by introducing minimum standards for oil tanker drivers.

Over 200 oil tanker drivers from across the industry attended a mass meeting in Immingham yesterday (Sunday, 22 January) to give their support to the striking drivers and to back Unite’s call to end rocketing instability in the sector.

Unite national officer, Matt Draper said: “The frustration expressed by Wincanton’s oil tanker drivers can be seen right across the sector. Drivers are under increasing strain, working in a very unstable industry with pressure to deliver fuel round the clock, but where terms and conditions are being slashed.

"It’s time the major players stopped riding rough-shod over the drivers. Only minimum standards can ensure that the dangerous job of delivering fuel is undertaken by highly skilled drivers. These drivers criss-cross the country delivering up to 38,000 litres of petrol at anyone time, the risks are huge but the thanks they get is an attack on their livelihoods.

“Wincanton and ConocoPhillips hold the key to resolving the dispute. They need to get round the table with us to solve this before this instability spreads."

More than 120 of Wincanton’s oil tanker drivers, operating out of the UK’s three major oil terminals Immingham in north east Lincolnshire ,Kingsbury, near Warwickshire and Stockton on Tees in the north east, will walk out for seven days of action from 05.00am on Tuesday, 24 January to 04.59am on Tuesday, 31 January 2012.

(EDITOR: Garage and MOT invited Wincanton to comment, but at time of going to press, we had not received a reply)