Grangemouth refinery workers reject pay deal
I know Grangemouth is in Scotland but this is a pertinent article. As the preceding story about energy prices shows it is very dangerous to let a few big players corner the market in anything. Its not so long ago since we had to bail out banks which were too big to fail.
Any regional economy (and Scotland has a population roughly the size of an English Region) is in trouble when a significant proportion of its infrastructure and employment is in a few private sector hands. This is why a wide pattern of small rural employers is in many ways more sustainable than some urban places with one or two big sectors. This is why LEPs should value the significant stock of small scale rural jobs created by LEADER. Told you there was some relevant food for thought here – the article itself tells us:
Union officials have confirmed two thirds of workers at the Grangemouth complex, Scotland’s biggest oil refinery, have rejected a pay and pensions cut
The Unite union said that it had been given 665 forms rejecting the new terms and conditions as part of a survival plan out of a workforce of 1,350 by the 6pm deadline.
Site operator Ineos is now meeting with shareholders to discuss its options. It has warned the plant would shut in 2017 without new investment and changes to workers’ terms and conditions. The plant processes around 200,000 barrels of oil a day.
Ineos said those who supported the survival plan would receive a transitional payment of up to £15,000.
It said the plant, which shut down last week because of the ongoing dispute, has been losing £10million a month.
Both sides have been locked in a bitter conflict for weeks that was instigated by the treatment of Unite convenor Stephen Deans, who was involved in the row over a selection of a Labour candidate in Falkirk, where he is chairman of the constituency party.
He was suspended, before being reinstated, and is now facing an internal investigation. The report will be published on Friday.
Jim Ratcliffe, the founder and chairman of Ineos, one of the world’s largest chemicals manufacturers, said at the weekend that the fate of the Grangemouth plant now rested with its staff.
“This is not a bluff. The clock is ticking,” he said. “Grangemouth could have a future but that is absolutely in the hands of the workers. If we go down the wrong road, then I’m afraid this story will not have a happy ending.”