900 workers sacked at oil plant

[4me2]

900 workers sacked at oil plant



Nearly 900 workers at the Lindsey oil refinery have been sacked, following unofficial strike action at the plant, the UNITE union has told the BBC. The contractor workers walked out last week in a dispute over 51 redundancies. They claim a local agreement not to cut any jobs had been broken.
Total, who own the Lincolnshire plant, say no such agreement was in place.
Managers had asked staff to return to work, but on Thursday night they confirmed hundreds had been sacked.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/humber/8108434.stm

[ka$h]

bloody hell, #I was working there this time last year! there are a couple of major shut downs this years as well as a new unit build so I'm a little confused as to whom has been sacked (total staff or jacobs/amec contractors). It's a lot of people to sack and keep the refinery running daily.

[prezzy]

It's a lot of people to sack and keep the refinery running daily.

Surely there a load of people looking for jobs atm ready to step in though?

[ka$h]

There are quite a few. The oil & Gas market took a downturn in the UK at New year and has only started to recover a bit now in places. Speaking to an ex colleague today, there are 10 instrument engineering staff out of 16 being made redundant last/this week from the Great Yarmouth Office and this is soething that is appearing in several places, not just that one office of one company. On the flip side, I got a job today, but it's taken 5 months of waiting and applying to get it.

Like I said, it depends on who the 900 were, it it's the contractors, the project will be delayed costing millions to total, if it's their staff, it can't be easy to replace that many people with oil refining skills.

Personally I feel it will be the contractors that have been turfed off site and although it will cost Total, they can reschedule the shutdown planned for September and it won't cost them as much there.

Whilst there I noticed most of the major management were french, and they took a firm stance about their business, so as much as this is a shock, I can easily understand how it came about.

[-AMO-]

They should of sacked all the rmt union cunts that went on strike.

[4me2]

Surely there a load of people looking for jobs atm ready to step in though?

I think you are forgetting people can't just walk in and operate these jobs without extensive training, It's not ASDA'S we are talking about here.

[Goldberg]

They can all apply for their jobs from next week again it has been said.

If you strike unofficially though then you have to expect some sort of reaction from the company surely? If I was to strike today I would no doubt get the boot!! Strength in numbers does not always do it.

[4me2]

They can all apply for their jobs from next week again it has been said.

If you strike unofficially though then you have to expect some sort of reaction from the company surely? If I was to strike today I would no doubt get the boot!! Strength in numbers does not always do it.

It does in France.

Maybe the refinery workers should block the Tunnel and ports too.

[MsDG]

It does in France.

Maybe the refinery workers should block the Tunnel and ports too.

Or maybe the refinery workers should just fuck off to France instead?

[Realist]

This country has gone to the dogs.

Wish I could afford to move to the moon.

[Nibb]

Information

Oil plant sackings spark walkouts


Sacked contractors are urging workers at other sites to take action

Hundreds of workers across England and Wales have walked out in support of nearly 700 construction staff sacked at the Lindsey Oil Refinery.
The sackings came after about 1,200 workers walked out unofficially at the Lincolnshire plant in a jobs dispute.
Workers at the Ensus biofuels site at Wilton, Teesside, and Aberthaw power station, in south Wales, are among those who have come out in support.
Union officials are at the Lindsey works for talks with owner Total.
Text messages
The sacked Lindsey workers had been building an additional plant next to the existing site, but withdrew their labour last week in protest at a sub-contractor axing 51 jobs while another employer on the site was hiring people.
The workers argued this broke an agreement not to cut jobs at the site, but Total insists no such agreement was in place.
The number of workers sacked at the Lindsey refinery was previously reported to be nearly 900.
On Friday, workers at a number of sites walked out in support of the contract workers who have lost their jobs in Lincolnshire:
ENERGY WORKERS' PROTESTS

1.Stanlow oil refinery
Ellesmere Port, Cheshire
2. Aberthaw
West of Cardiff
3. Ferrybridge power station
West Yorkshire
4. Staythorpe power station
Nottinghamshire
5. Ensus site
Wilton chemical complex, Teeside

• At the Ensus site all 1,100 workers have walked out, according to a company spokesman
• About 300 workers are protesting outside Aberthaw power station
• Up to 450 contract maintenance staff have walked out at the Stanlow Oil Refinery in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. Shell says the action will not affect production but may delay routine maintenance projects
• Some contract workers have downed tools at Ferrybridge power station in West Yorkshire. Scottish and Southern Electric say the plant is operating normally
• At Staythorpe power station near Newark, Nottinghamshire, 100 scaffolding contractors have walked out unofficially for a second day

Text messages are reportedly being sent to fellow workers around the UK to encourage them to take action.
Total managers at Lindsey had asked the striking contract workers to return to work, but late on Thursday confirmed "with regret" hundreds had been sacked.
However, it said any contract staff who wanted to return to the site could reapply for positions until Monday.

Total's Bob Emmerson: 'We want the workers back for negotiations'

A group gathered outside the main gates of the Lindsey refinery on Friday, waving placards accusing bosses of greed and urging them to "share out the work".
Bernard McAulay, national officer of the Unite union, has arrived at the Lindsey refinery to talk to Total managers and contractors.
He said he was "always hopeful" ahead of talks and added that the conciliation service Acas was due there later.
But he criticised the way the dispute had been handled, describing the employers' actions as "despicable".
GMB union general secretary Paul Kenny said: "Total have not tried to resolve this dispute, they sought to escalate it and they have sought to victimise people."
AT THE SCENE

Paul Murphy at Lindsey refinery
A growing number of sacked refinery workers are picketing one of the entrances to the giant refinery. They cheer as they are beeped by passing cars and lorries. The placards held aloft read "Put British Workers First".
And that's the essence of this bitter dispute. They claim Total had offered an assurance that no jobs would be lost here while foreign workers were employed on site. A claim the company denies.
The pickets have all been here before, spending days on end in January protesting at the employment of Italian contractors over their UK counterparts. But this protest has been different - unsupported by their unions and unofficial.
That's why they've been sacked, but there's an olive branch - if they apply for their old jobs by Monday then they have the chance to work here again.
On the picket line though they're in defiant mood - describing Total's actions as brinkmanship, vowing to stay out in protest until agreements about foreign workers and redundancies are more clearly defined.

But the human resources manager at the refinery, Bob Emmerson, has defended the company's approach.
"We would welcome talks, but for those talks to take place, we have to have the people back in work," he said.
"There is a due process to go through that is agreed with the unions, that is agreed with workers in the construction industry, we have lines of communication that are open, we have elected union representatives."
One of the sacked Lindsey workers told the Press Association: "We are asking for support from workers across the country which I am sure will be given. Total will soon realise they have unleashed a monster.
"It is disgraceful that this has happened without any consultation."
Another sacked contract worker, John McEwan, said: "We were left no option. If we have to defend the rights of our men on these sites and our pay and conditions then we have to do that."
In a statement, Total said the sacked workers had been involved in "an unofficial, illegal walk out" that was "repudiated" by both Unite and the GMB.
"Total can confirm, with regret, that our contractors have now started the process of ending the current employment contracts for their workforce on the HDS-3 construction project," the company said.
UNREST AT LINDSEY REFINERY
28 Jan: Workers walk out over use of foreign labour
5 Feb: Strikers vote to return to work after deal is struck
19 May: Workers strike over use of non-local labour in Wales
21 May: They return to work
11 June: Workers walk out over job losses
15 June: Talks aimed at resolving the dispute fail
16 June: Deadlock over proposed further peace talks
19 June: Nearly 900 workers are sacked

Total said it had "repeatedly sought to encourage the workforce to return to work so that proper negotiations can take place".
The construction project will remain closed in the meantime.
Total added that the 51 disputed redundancies were necessary because the relevant part of the project had been completed.
Downing Street has criticised the strike action.
A spokesman said: "Unofficial strike action is never the right response to industrial relations problems."
The Lindsey refinery also suffered strikes earlier this year over the employment of non-UK workers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8108941.stm

Start filling up the car!