Striking Total oil refinery workers hope for resolution
- 00:00:35
- ITN
Striking Total oil refinery workers hope for resolution
Hopes have been raised of an end to the deadlocked row over a strike at the Lindsey oil refinery in North Lincolnshire. Talks will be held later between unions and employers after almost 650 contract staff working on a major construction project were sacked last week after seven days of unofficial industrial action. Owners Total, the French oil giant, said the action had left a construction project six months behind schedule and around £85.5 million over budget. Meanwhile, more workers have walked out around the country in support of the strike. Employees at the Coryton oil refinery in Essex have now taken action for the first time since the dispute flared. And contract staff at a number of sites, including the Longannet power station in Scotland, Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria, and Didcot power station in Oxfordshire continue to take unofficial action. GMB general secretary Paul Kenny was cheered and applauded when he announced that the union had launched a £100,000 hardship fund to support strikers. "As far as we are concerned, they are victimised and locked-out people, and it is an official dispute from the moment those notices arrived," he said, adding that the union is pressing ahead with a national ballot of thousands of workers in the industry in a long-running dispute over jobs and conditions. He continued: "We are committed to a national ballot. We think we are about a week away from launching that national ballot. There are lots of technicalities, but we are absolutely clear we are going down that road." Mr Kenny and the Unite union made clear there would be no resolution of the dispute unless all the sacked workers are reinstated. A statement released by the company said further cost overruns would "jeopardise the future viability of this important inward investment into the UK". The firm urged discussions to focus on restarting the project and said it had been assured by contractors that workers would not face reduced pay or conditions. It said: "Total is actively encouraging talks to be opened between its contractors and the unions about how to facilitate the return to work of its contracting companies' former workforces. "These discussions between the unions and the contracting companies should focus on getting the project back up and running within the agreed timeframe and budget. "The contracting companies have assured Total they remain committed to the national agreement between themselves and the unions. There is no question of a reduction in pay or dilution of existing terms and conditions." Total said it would be the end of the week before the number of contract staff wanting to return to work would be known. "However, the contractor companies have advised us that they believe they will have sufficient workforce necessary to meet their programming requirements," the company added. Speaking in reaction to the statement, Phil Whitehurst, of the GMB union, said he knew nothing about any proposed talks. He said: "I've spoken to the general secretary of the GMB, he knows nothing about any talks at all. Paul Kenny doesn't know anything at all about it."
ITN | June 23, 2009
