British Jobs for British Workers

Aberthaw Power Station workers strike over foreign labour

WORKERS at Aberthaw Power Station joined hundreds of contract workers across the country to stage a wildcat strike over the hiring of foreign labour.

Laggers and thermal insulation engineers at the Vale of Glamorgan plant downed tools in support of colleagues at the South Hook liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire.

It was the second such action to be taken since in recent months following the controversial “British Jobs for British Workers” protests earlier this year.

The unofficial action started at the LNG site after strikers complained that an agreement by contractors to offer jobs to local labour had been broken when a contractor hired around 50 Polish workers.

GMB general secretary Paul Kenny said he had been told by local union officials about a longstanding written agreement which required all contractors to maximise the use of local labour on the Milford Haven site.

He said: “There is widespread anger at repeated attempts in different projects around the country to exclude local people from job opportunities on these projects.”
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/05/20/aberthaw-power-station-workers-strike-over-foreign-labour-91466-23665947/