Refinery strikes spread across UK
Refinery worker: 'They're giving all our jobs to other people'
Strikes have been breaking out across the UK in support of a mass walkout by energy workers in Lincolnshire angry at the use of foreign workers.
Hundreds gathered for the third day of the original strike at Lindsey Oil Refinery after owner Total gave a £200m contract to an Italian firm.
They have been supported by hundreds of other "sympathy" strikers in Scotland, Wales and other parts of England.
Total said there would be no "direct redundancies" as a result of the deal.
The firm added that staff employed by the Italian company IREM would be paid the same as existing contractors on the project. More than 300 of its workers have been brought in to do the work.
Sites affected by sympathy walk-outs include Fiddlers Ferry power station, Warrington, Cheshire; Grangemouth oil refinery in central Scotland; South Hook Liquified Natural Gas terminal in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire; and Kilroot Power station near Larne, County Antrim.
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said the angry British workers were "entitled to an answer".
ENERGY WORKERS' PROTESTS
1. Grangemouth oil refinery, Central Scotland
2. Scottish Power's Longannet power station, Fife
3. Scottish Power's Cockenzie power station, East Lothian
4. Shell gas processing plant, St Fergus, Aberdeenshire
5. British Energy power station, Torness, East Lothian
6. Mossmorran chemical plant, Fife
7. Npower Aberthaw power station, south Wales
8. South Hook natural gas terminal, Milton Haven, Pembrokeshire
9. ICI chemical refinery at Wilton, Teesside
10. Corus steel plant near Redcar, Teeside
11. Scottish & Southern's Fiddler's Ferry power station, Cheshire
12. AMEC Kilroot power station, County Antrim
13. Marchwood power station, Hampshire
Total bosses said the Italian firm IREM, which employs a specialist workforce, had won the contract to construct the new HDS-3 unit at the Lindsey plant, after a "fair" tendering process.
Unite regional officer Bernard McAuley told Friday's rally in Lincolnshire: "There is sufficient unemployed, skilled labour wanting the right to work on that site and they are demanding the right to work on that site."
He said the leaders of Unite and the GMB had urged the prime minister to call an urgent meeting with the heads of industry in the engineering and construction industry.
Later the prime minister's spokesman said the government would hold talks with the construction industry in the next few days "to ensure they are doing all they can to support the UK economy".
He said the contracts at the Lindsey refinery were awarded some time ago when there was a shortage of labour in the construction sector, which was now not the case.
Unite Regional officer Bobby Buirds said shop stewards would meet in Glasgow on Friday afternoon to discuss the Scottish protests, none of which involved pickets.
Some of the Scottish strikers have travelled to Lindsey to join the picket there.
Speaking on Friday from Wilton, on Teesside, one protester urged the prime minister to take action, saying: "All we want is for Gordon Brown to fulfil his promise. He said British jobs for British workers."
A protester at the Lincolnshire plant said British workers should have priority of access to jobs.
"It's been a kettle ready to boil and the lid has blown off now," he said.
When asked about the growing action, Gordon Brown - speaking from the World Economic Forum in Davos - said he "understood" people's worries.
Where is the humanity in ruining someone's local environment by building a massive industrial refinery and then bringing in people from around the world to work there?
Ben Platt, Liverpool
He said the government was doing "everything we can" to shore up the economy as well as help individuals back into work.
Ben Platt, Liverpool
He said the government was doing "everything we can" to shore up the economy as well as help individuals back into work.
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said he hoped workers would return to work quickly after making their point.
Unite's governing national executive has called for a national protest in Westminster, and joint general secretary Derek Simpson said it was consulting its lawyers over the legality of engineering and construction employment practices.
"The union is doing everything in its power to ensure that employers end this immoral, potentially illegal and politically dangerous practice of excluding UK workers from some construction projects," he said.
In a statement, Total said it "recognised" the concerns of contractors.
"It is important to note that we have been a major local employer for 40 years with 550 permanent staff employed at the refinery.
"There are also between 200 and 1,000 contractors working at the refinery, the vast majority of which work for UK companies employing local people."
The HDS-3 unit affected is separate to the main refinery. Total said the action has not affected normal operations.
See this link...http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5617015.ece
17 comments:
Good article here
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5617015.ece
We need as many out as possible. Now is the time to make this government pay.
Perhaps Total have realised that the average British worker is fat and lazy.
I know as an employer, that Poles and other Eastern European Whites have a much better work ethic. Sorry, but you know it's true.
IMPORTANT PLEASE READ.
Saturday 31st January is the day we have been promised a large march and rally will be inflicted on Liverpool with a cocktail of Left Wing and Black and Asian Self Interest Groups led by Shahid Malik MP, Searchlight, UAF, Alec El Gobo Macfadden, Idi Amin lookalike Weyman Bennett, The Black Police Association Vinnie Tomlinson, The Somali Association and many others including Little Black Sisters of The Poor under the banner of 'STOP THE BNP'
Sunday 1st February from 10pm - 2am a talk phone show run by Pete Price Talk City 105.6 telephone 0151 708 1059 txt 61025 put TALK space start message.
It is expected Gerry Gable/Nick Lowles and others will be given plenty of airtime. Has a representative from the BNP been invited to respond?
Supporters of the BNP should be encouraged to ring the Pete Price phone in, in order to have there views aired (but beware of making comment abouts Gays) Mr Price has stated in the past he is a conserative - whatever that may mean.
(XofPi=)
I will be ringing-will you!!
British jobs for British workers !
We have a foreign "Lizard" government, who have sold our children to their "IMF" friends.
It seems ironic that "unity" should be posturing about this matter - they themselves have harmed British workers with their "anti-fascist" lies.
By the way - the have already spent our pensions on a time-share in the Caribbean.
Perhaps Total have realised that the average British worker is fat and lazy.
I know as an employer, that Poles and other Eastern European Whites have a much better work ethic. Sorry, but you know it's true.
well fuck off back behind the communist iron curtain you twat.traitors gate beckons for people like you and the day is NIGH !
Anonymous 17.35
"Perhaps Total have realised that the average British worker is fat and lazy.
I know as an employer, that Poles and other Eastern European Whites have a much better work ethic. Sorry, but you know it's true."
This is the sort of thinking that is destroying this country. First off, the average British worker is not fat or lazy at all. Just look at British car factory workers as an one example.
Every country in the world shows a range of abilities and intelligence in their indigenous populations. The only people that argue for the disenfranchisement of indigenous British people like you are doing are the E.U freaks who want to destroy the liberties of the British people, or the globalising bankers & financiers who are trying to erase national identities.
Which do you belong to?
I hope our Joey Owens will be round Liverpool with his camera on Saturday to get some picture's of camera shy Alec El Gobbo Macfadden and that dreadful invertebrate Nick Lowles and pin up boy for KFC illegitimate son of Iddi Amin Weyman Bennett and The Godfather of Dewsbury Shahid Malik if he hasnt got his hand in the till, Vinnie Tomlinson of the Black Police Association will of course be instructing the Chief Constable on policeing matters between lecturing him on fellow officers and the benefits of positive discrimination, because you never know these villains might be wanted on Crimewatch in the future!!!!!!!!
Gordon Brown is the best Prime Minister Europe has ever had.
Anonymous said...
Perhaps Total have realised that the average British worker is fat and lazy.
I know as an employer, that Poles and other Eastern European Whites have a much better work ethic. Sorry, but you know it's true.
-----------------------------------
No, I don't know that your statement is true. And I doubt that you are an employer. Perhaps, I suspect,at best, an employer of just one or two on a minimum wage. If you are a genuine employer paying a proper wage( ie not the minimum slave wage which I think is currently about £5.72 pence an hour for the over 21's why don't you find the balls to identify yourself in a way that can be varified instead of posting anonymously?
Incidentally is you statement racist? Surely to brand an entire people as 'fat and lazy' and then to go on to state that other people are better ('have a much better work ethic') is a racist statement.
Now lets ask ourselves a simple question.If the imported workers are so good and so productive why are their own countries economic basket cases? (yes they are--if not why do they come to Britain?) Don't we have a contradiction here?
The truth is big employers do not give a fig about anything other than the bottom line. They import foreign labour because it maximises their profits and emasculates the organised indiginous workforce. Importing foreign labour is all about increasing employer profits and decreasing indiginous employee living standards and security.
Those who would augue otherwise are,in my opinion, either fools or liars.
As I said you should not post anonmously (if you believe in your statements). I don't do so. My name is Richard Chadfield and I may be contacted at richardchadfield@yahoo.co.uk
Richard Chadfield
Good on them, it's about time that we stood up for our own.
Top job.
http://griffinwatch-nwn.blogspot.com/
G.M.B. Docs. online
http://griffinwatch-nwn.blogspot.com/2009/01/breaking-news-gmb-docs.html
are any bp,shell or texaco refineries on strike?
With apologies to our Scot Nationalist neighbours but that Scots cunt Pat McFadden, Labour minister for non-employment should be strung-up by the balls.
FUCKING WANKER
Richard Chadfield, well said, well laid out.
I hope our boys catch-up with the two spaghetti bending wops making derogatory hand gestures to the protesters at Immingham, break their fingers off and ram them up their arses.
England forever
What are they protesting about? Marxist crazies running the schools? The Asian invasion? The drug culture? Paedophiles roaming the streets? Corruption in government? No. Their pockets. Says it all really.
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