A bitter dispute over the use of foreign workers on a multimillion-pound construction project spread to several other sites when police were called to a series of wildcat strikes.
A decision to bring in hundreds of Italian and Portuguese contractors to work on a new £200 million plant at the giant Lindsey Oil Refinery at North Killingholme, North Lincolnshire, led to protests in support of jobs for British workers.
Several hundred demonstrators gathered for a third day outside the plant following a walk-out by contractors on Wednesday, but the unofficial action spread to other parts of the UK, including Scotland and Wales.
Hundreds of workers at the giant Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland walked out following an early morning meeting. The mechanical contractors, who work for BP and INEOS, said they were supporting their colleagues in Lincolnshire.
Bobby Buirds, a regional officer for the union Unite in Scotland, said the workers at Grangemouth were striking to protect British jobs.
“The argument is not against foreign workers, it’s against foreign companies discriminating against British labour. If the job of these mechanical contractors at INEOS finishes and they try and get jobs down south, the jobs are already occupied by foreign labour and their opportunities are decreasing. This is a fight for work. It is a fight for the right to work in our own country. It is not a racist argument at all.”
Unions will hold another meeting of Scottish shop stewards in Glasgow, and a further meeting on Monday, he said.
Police were called to the Aberthaw power station near Barry in South Wales after workers staged a protest.
Around 400 workers staged a demonstration at the Wilton refinery in Teesside. Cleveland Police said the workers were picketing the site near Redcar, adding: “The protest started at around 6.30am with 400 workers taking part. They are picketing four gates around the refinery. The protest is peaceful and officers are monitoring the situation.”
The refinery dispute erupted after Total put the Lincolnshire contract to build the new unit, which will allow the refinery to process crude oil with a higher sulphur content, out to tender. Five UK firms and two European contractors tendered for the work and it was awarded to the Italian company Irem on the basis that it was supplying its own permanent workforce.
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