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21 Oct 2013

Grangemouth workers set to reject deal in ‘messy’ dispute

The Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland is on the brink of permanent closure as workers are set to reject the latest offer from owners Ineos in a dispute over pensions and benefits.

Management will meet from Tuesday morning, and a decision on the future of the plant would be made shortly after that, Ineos spokesman Tom Crotty said.

“It will take as long as it needs but we’ll not sit around for days, the refinery is losing around 2 million pounds per day, so we need to resolve it,” he said.

Ineos earlier said it had “strong support” for the company ahead of the deadline, however Unite told Channel 4 News that 65 per cent of union members have so far rejected deal.

Staff at the complex had until 6pm on Monday to decide whether to sign up to fresh terms and conditions proposed by the owners.

Hundreds of workers attended a rally at the plant on Sunday as the dispute over the future of the troubled site continues.

The company has written to the workers asking them to agree to changes to pensions and other terms as part of a survival plan.

Ineos told erlier Channel 4 News that numbers signing up to new terms and conditions are “healthy” and that those who do not sign up could eventually lose their jobs.

The numbers will be presented to shareholders at a meeting on Tuesday and a decision taken on whether the plant has a future.

The Unite union, however, has accused the firm of giving workers an ultimatum of accepting worse pay and conditions or losing their job.

Unite’s Pat Rafferty, told Channel 4 News North of England Correspondent Ciaran Jenkins that it would give written guarantee not to strike in exchange for meaningful negotiations.

He said: “We have given that assurance privately and would do so in writing if it means meaningful negotiations can take place. We’d set a term for no-strikes, until Christmas or example.

“But Ineos can’t negotiate and try and impose new terms and conditions at the same time. They’ve got to take that threat away.

“We are not setting any red lines for negotiations or saying we won’t accept any changes to pensions or terms and conditions. We just want to get around that table.”

Oil refinery shuts down

The plant was shut down last week as a result of the industrial dispute.

Ineos has warned that the plant will close in 2017 without fresh investment and changes to workers’ terms and conditions.

Calum MacLean, chairman of Ineos Grangemouth, told the Good Morning Scotland programme the site has made significant losses in recent years.

“People need to realise that as a site, this site’s lost £50m per year for the last four years,” he said.

“It’s got a pension fund which is £200m in deficit and it is on the point of going bust, and if it wasn’t because of the support of the shareholders today, who are funding those losses, then there’s a very serious situation here which means the site may not start up again.”

On Saturday, Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond repeated a plea for unions to agree to no industrial action and for management to reopen the site in order for negotiations to take place.

Around 400 employees, some with children and family, attended a rally at the plant on Sunday in heavy rain and heard from speakers from Unite and other bodies such as the Scottish Trades Union Congress.

‘A sustainable future’

Asked what message the prime minister would send to the two sides in the dispute, David Cameron’s official spokesman said: “The message is that we would urge them to continue to talk and find a way to secure a long-term future for Grangemouth.

“The government has been working with all sides in this. The responsibility is on them to try to find a way forward that secures the kind of future I have described.

“I think there is a responsibility on all sides here and that’s why it is important that the continue to try to find an agreement that ensures a sustainable future for the facility.”

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