 Oil tanker drivers had planned to walk out on Friday |
BP tanker drivers have postponed their planned strike in a dispute over pensions, to allow further talks between union leaders and management. Seventy-four members of the Transport and General Workers' Union (T&G) at the fuel giant were due to walk out for five days from Friday.
The dispute arose when the drivers were moved to BP from logistics firm Exel earlier in October.
They said their final salary pensions were changed to an "inferior" scheme.
The drivers said the move to money purchase schemes had reduced the value of their pensions.
'Sufficient progress'
On Thursday the union and BP said in a statement: "Discussions have continued... between the Transport and General Workers Union and BP on pension issues relating to Exel employees whose employment recently transferred.
"Sufficient progress was made during these discussions for the planned industrial action, scheduled to begin on Friday, to be postponed."
A T&G official told the BBC that talks would resume on Tuesday 1 November.
The strike would have hit BP depots across the country including Stanlow on Merseyside, Grangemouth in Scotland, Hamble in Hampshire, Kingsbury in the West Midlands and Coryton in Essex.
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