JoeyB Posted 30 January 2009 Posted 30 January 2009 Refinery strikes spread across UK Refinery worker: 'They're giving all our jobs to other people' Strikes have broken out across the UK in support of a walkout by energy workers over the use of foreign labour. Hundreds gathered for the third day of the original strike at Lindsey Oil Refinery, Lincs, after owner Total gave a £200m contract to an Italian firm. They have been supported by hundreds of other "sympathy" strikers in Scotland, Wales and other parts of England. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he does not regret promising "British jobs for British workers". Mr Brown's remarks - to the Labour Party conference in 2007 - have been seized upon by protesters. Total said there would be no "direct redundancies" as a result of the deal. The firm added that staff employed by the Italian company IREM would be paid the same as existing contractors on the project. More than 300 of its workers have been brought in to do the work. ENERGY WORKERS' PROTESTS Map of protests by UK energy workers 1. Grangemouth oil refinery, Central Scotland 2. Scottish Power's Longannet power station, Fife 3. Scottish Power's Cockenzie power station, East Lothian 4. Shell gas processing plant, St Fergus, Aberdeenshire 5. British Energy power station, Torness, East Lothian 6. Mossmorran chemical plant, Fife 7. Npower Aberthaw power station, south Wales 8. South Hook natural gas terminal, Milton Haven, Pembrokeshire 9. ICI chemical refinery at Wilton, Teesside 10. Corus steel plant near Redcar, Teeside 11. Scottish & Southern's Fiddler's Ferry power station, Cheshire 12. AMEC Kilroot power station, County Antrim 13. Marchwood power station, Hampshire Where are protests taking place? Sites affected by walk-outs include Fiddlers Ferry power station, Warrington, Cheshire; Grangemouth oil refinery in central Scotland; South Hook Liquified Natural Gas terminal in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire; and Kilroot Power station near Larne, County Antrim. Total bosses said the Italian firm IREM, which employs a specialist workforce, had won the contract to construct the new HDS-3 unit at the Lindsey plant, after a "fair" tendering process. Bernard McAuley, of trade union Unite, told Friday's rally in Lincolnshire: "There is sufficient unemployed, skilled labour wanting the right to work on that site and they are demanding the right to work on that site." He said the leaders of Unite and the GMB had urged the prime minister to call an urgent meeting with the heads of industry in the engineering and construction industry. Speaking on Friday from Wilton, on Teesside, about the prime minister's remarks about British jobs, one protester said: "All we want is for Gordon Brown to fulfil his promise. He said British jobs for British workers." But Employment Minister Pat McFadden said the prime minister had never promised economic protectionism or a halt in international trade. "What he's saying there is, I want to see the British workforce equipped for the jobs and skills of the future," Mr McFadden told BBC Five Live. "And that's precisely what the government is doing." The prime minister's spokesman said Mr Brown he did not regret the remarks, adding: "The action we have taken has meant that we are now putting in place measures to ensure that British workers can have access to the vacancies that exist in the system." Protester The walkouts began in Lincolnshire and have reached Wales and Scotland The spokesman said that the government would hold talks with the construction industry in the next few days "to ensure they are doing all they can to support the UK economy". He said the contracts at the Lindsey refinery were awarded some time ago when there was a shortage of labour in the construction sector, which was now not the case. When asked about the growing action, Mr Brown - speaking from the World Economic Forum in Davos - said he "understood" people's worries. He said the government was doing "everything we can" to shore up the economy as well as help individuals back into work. Bobby Buirds, of Unite, said shop stewards would meet in Glasgow on Friday afternoon to discuss the Scottish protests, none of which involved pickets. Some of the Scottish strikers have travelled to Lindsey to join the picket there. Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said he hoped workers would return to work quickly after making their point. A protester at the Lincolnshire plant said British workers should have priority of access to jobs. "It's been a kettle ready to boil and the lid has blown off now," he said. HAVE YOUR SAY Where is the humanity in ruining someone's local environment by building a massive industrial refinery and then bringing in people from around the world to work there? Ben Platt, Liverpool Send us your comments Unite has called for a national protest in Westminster, and joint general secretary Derek Simpson said it was consulting its lawyers over the legality of engineering and construction employment practices. "The union is doing everything in its power to ensure that employers end this immoral, potentially illegal and politically dangerous practice of excluding UK workers from some construction projects," he said. In a statement, Total said it "recognised" the concerns of contractors. "It is important to note that we have been a major local employer for 40 years with 550 permanent staff employed at the refinery. "There are also between 200 and 1,000 contractors working at the refinery, the vast majority of which work for UK companies employing local people." The HDS-3 unit affected is separate to the main refinery. Total said the action has not affected normal operations. Link Good on the English for walking out, its about time we took action in a way to get more jobs for English people!!
lavrentis Posted 30 January 2009 Posted 30 January 2009 Dont blame them! British jobs for British people!
Sparky Posted 30 January 2009 Posted 30 January 2009 I cant earn anywhere near what i used to due to cheap foreign labour , in fact you get 3 eastern europeans now for what i earnt , so you could say im a little disapointed . In fact the company went bust due to customer complaints from foreign workers standard of work , heart bleeds for them .
JoeyB Posted 30 January 2009 Author Posted 30 January 2009 Dont blame them!British jobs for British people! I cant earn anywhere near what i used to due to cheap foreign labour , in fact you get 3 eastern europeans now for what i earnt , so you could say im a little disapointed . In fact the company went bust due to customer complaints from foreign workers standard of work , heart bleeds for them . Yeah i know what you mean. Meant to put im agaisnst cheap foreign labour.
Thracian Posted 30 January 2009 Posted 30 January 2009 Good on the English for walking out, its about time we took action in a way to get more jobs for English people!! Absolutely. Let's hope they've got as much bottle as the French when it comes to making their point and as much support. Gordon Brown is a forked tongued disgrace. What sort of arsehole makes a "British jobs for British people" comment while this sort of thing is going on and what arsehole gets set to increase the already scandalous petrol duty at a time when British people and British industry needs all the help it can get to keep running. I've warned only weeks ago that people were fast approaching the point where enough is enough. This could be the catalyst which finally gets the English to say they've had enough of being shit on. And not before time.
Koke Posted 30 January 2009 Posted 30 January 2009 Dont blame them!British jobs for British people! Who should get which jobs? Local jobs for local people? Leicestershire? Midlands? UK [Wales, England, Scotland, NI]? What's British? Am I British for being born and bred in Wolverhampton? Is my mum British despite being born in Kuwait but still holds a British passport? Does those guys have more right to work here than I do? Than my parents do?
Head Honcho Posted 30 January 2009 Posted 30 January 2009 .........not cheap foreign labour though is it! Does mean we can get rid of all the foreigners playing footy over here?
Koke Posted 30 January 2009 Posted 30 January 2009 .........not cheap foreign labour though is it!Does mean we can get rid of all the foreigners playing footy over here? I suppose we should get rid of Tunchev because Michael Morrison is an Englishman and he has more right to do the job.
cisono Posted 30 January 2009 Posted 30 January 2009 .........not cheap foreign labour though is it!Does mean we can get rid of all the foreigners playing footy over here?
Thracian Posted 30 January 2009 Posted 30 January 2009 Who should get which jobs? Local jobs for local people? Leicestershire? Midlands? UK [Wales, England, Scotland, NI]? What's British? Am I British for being born and bred in Wolverhampton? Is my mum British despite being born in Kuwait but still holds a British passport? Does those guys have more right to work here than I do? Than my parents do? This is not about you, your colour or your ethnic background. This is about busing in of cheap foreign labour from outside this country on the back of a blatantly false, worthless, bullshit comment from an utterly shameless prime minister. It is about also saying that inclusive policies are fine when your nation and your leader's policies are able to provide the existing workforce, of all colours and backgrounds, with the jobs that enable them to provide for their dependents. But not when the nation's industries are fast becoming idle and the workforces are steadily losing their jobs and their homes. Everyone knows this is a world problem. Everyone knows there's no easy way out. But what it doesn't need is a shallow, thoughtless, insincere leader like Gordon Brown uttering patronising claptrap as workgangs come in from abroad to rub salt into the already festering wounds of British workers... Workers who could and would do the job perfectly well and who, while they might be more expensive, still have to pay mortgages and bills which are determined by our (scandalously high) cost of living and, in part, the very wastefulness of that self-same arsehole of a Prime Minister who is allowing them to be publicly fecked. Sadly it is just one example of the insensitivity and inadequacy of a man who is smugly protected from the financial consequences of hardship like the rest of his demonstrably self-serving and money-grabbing colleagues. The impending fuel tax is another example and doubtless an increase in VAT later will be a third not to mention the raft of tax increases that will all bleed what's left of the working population of whatever little they've got left or, worse, further increase their debt as the inevitable legacy of the Government's latest, desperate spending spree. Brown has no code and no honour. If he did and if he really cared for this country he'd piss off tomorrrow and allow someone to come in who would send these foreign mercenaries home on whatever pretext and slam the door on further immigration until the existing people of this land have some work, some prospects, and some hope for the future.
Daggers Posted 30 January 2009 Posted 30 January 2009 This is about busing in of cheap foreign labour from outside this country on the back of a blatantly false, worthless, bullshit comment from an utterly shameless prime minister. Oddly enough - it isn't. It's about a company asking for tenders and taking on one which stated they'd be using their own workforce. This wasn't about any "British" person being done out of a job, declined an interview or inconvenienced. It's about a company acting without government interference, something you've been complaining about for months. It's about a load of people getting very upset over something they really don't understand, a media self-created shitstorm and overblown rants without a lot of foundation.
clazkel Posted 30 January 2009 Posted 30 January 2009 Who should get which jobs? Local jobs for local people? Leicestershire? Midlands? UK [Wales, England, Scotland, NI]? What's British? Am I British for being born and bred in Wolverhampton? Is my mum British despite being born in Kuwait but still holds a British passport? Does those guys have more right to work here than I do? Than my parents do? Your right, what is it to be British, do we have the right to the jobs just because we were born in Britain? Personally i dont think we should, but i know this is a very complex subject
Hullfox Posted 30 January 2009 Posted 30 January 2009 Thracian rants on about the importance of supporting one's nation. How many of the goods in your own house and garage are British though Thrach? Not enough, I'm afraid. For all my ideals I've got a living to earn. Sorry Thrach but it's not washing with me mate. These Italian guys have got a living to earn too.
lavrentis Posted 30 January 2009 Posted 30 January 2009 This is not about you, your colour or your ethnic background. This is about busing in of cheap foreign labour from outside this country on the back of a blatantly false, worthless, bullshit comment from an utterly shameless prime minister. It is about also saying that inclusive policies are fine when your nation and your leader's policies are able to provide the existing workforce, of all colours and backgrounds, with the jobs that enable them to provide for their dependents. But not when the nation's industries are fast becoming idle and the workforces are steadily losing their jobs and their homes. Everyone knows this is a world problem. Everyone knows there's no easy way out. But what it doesn't need is a shallow, thoughtless, insincere leader like Gordon Brown uttering patronising claptrap as workgangs come in from abroad to rub salt into the already festering wounds of British workers... Workers who could and would do the job perfectly well and who, while they might be more expensive, still have to pay mortgages and bills which are determined by our (scandalously high) cost of living and, in part, the very wastefulness of that self-same arsehole of a Prime Minister who is allowing them to be publicly fecked. Sadly it is just one example of the insensitivity and inadequacy of a man who is smugly protected from the financial consequences of hardship like the rest of his demonstrably self-serving and money-grabbing colleagues. The impending fuel tax is another example and doubtless an increase in VAT later will be a third not to mention the raft of tax increases that will all bleed what's left of the working population of whatever little they've got left or, worse, further increase their debt as the inevitable legacy of the Government's latest, desperate spending spree. Brown has no code and no honour. If he did and if he really cared for this country he'd piss off tomorrrow and allow someone to come in who would send these foreign mercenaries home on whatever pretext and slam the door on further immigration until the existing people of this land have some work, some prospects, and some hope for the future. What you have said with I agree.
Thracian Posted 31 January 2009 Posted 31 January 2009 Oddly enough - it isn't.It's about a company asking for tenders and taking on one which stated they'd be using their own workforce. This wasn't about any "British" person being done out of a job, declined an interview or inconvenienced. It's about a company acting without government interference, something you've been complaining about for months. It's about a load of people getting very upset over something they really don't understand, a media self-created shitstorm and overblown rants without a lot of foundation. Seems we have a French company being extremely insensitive to the feelings of unemployed British workers who could do this job and that the situation makes an utter mockery of the Brown remark. Reading below there is obviously great concern because various people are starting to wriggle as fast as they can, But whatever the eventual outcome there is every likelihood that British workers have been treated unfairly as potential recruits. Nothing new in that of course. And you can bet that cheap labour is at the heart of the decision making, cheap labour which almost certainly shows that British workers and the Italian/Portuguese are not competing on a level playing field. And part of the reason for that is down to the unnecessarily high cost of living in the UK (due to the Government's reckless spending) which in turn prices British workers out of the jobs which Gordon Brown says the Brits will have. Also reading below there seems like a considerable hint in the last paragraph that British people will/have been "done out" of jobs. If only indirectly. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20090130/tuk-b...ne-a7ad41d.html
Nationwider Posted 31 January 2009 Posted 31 January 2009 Aside from the moral debate, I can't see what the legal argument against this is. French company with UK branch contracts US company who sub-contract to Italian firm, who employ their own staff within a European Union member state. This happens the world over. I'm not saying I agree with it, but I'm buggered if I know what G.Brown can do about it - unless there's genuinely something illegal about the arrangement. I'm not sure I recall G.Brown saying "No jobs for foreigners"? I'm pretty sure he won't be picking up any phones and asking any oil companies to do as he tells them, not mid-recession anyway.
cisono Posted 31 January 2009 Posted 31 January 2009 Aside from the moral debate, I can't see what the legal argument against this is. French company with UK branch contracts US company who sub-contract to Italian firm, who employ their own staff within a European Union member state. This happens the world over.I'm not saying I agree with it, but I'm buggered if I know what G.Brown can do about it - unless there's genuinely something illegal about the arrangement. I'm not sure I recall G.Brown saying "No jobs for foreigners"? I'm pretty sure he won't be picking up any phones and asking any oil companies to do as he tells them, not mid-recession anyway. It's economics really. I'd rather focus on creating new jobs than fighting over these ones that have already been assigned to someone else...
Thracian Posted 31 January 2009 Posted 31 January 2009 Sorry Thrach but it's not washing with me mate. These Italian guys have got a living to earn too. And I don't mind them earning a living in their own country, or even in our country when there is plenty of work to go round or if this is their adopted country anyway. But our government's first responsibility is to our people and if they've committed themsselves to laws which prevent them fulfilling that responsibility then they have done the country a disservice by agreeing to them. Not that any law seemed to stop them going to war in Afghanistan. So, given that, this little problem should be a doddle to get around. I'm quite sure the French would mnage it. PS: As for the things I purchase for my household I am limited in part to whatever is available. I am not much of a possessions person anyway but, looking around, the vast majority of what I have is home produced and, in business, I do my level best to buy British. At one time I would regularly call on 25/30 British manufacturers because I always collected direct rather than ordering over the phone. Unfortunately, with so many companies folding, that has become increasingly difficult but I still manage fairly well and am quite sure that policy has had an entirely positive effect on my business. That's not to say I never choose to buy foreign. But you can be sure that in the current climate I am supporting British manufacturing just as strongly as I can and, as always, buying in person so that I know the people involved and every aspect of what their business can offer.
Finnegan Posted 31 January 2009 Posted 31 January 2009 OH FOR FUCK'S SAKES!! Every bastard, cunting time I come into a thread with a funny response in mind some long-haired, student-wannabe, hippy-looking tit has posted it first.
Shrenchel Posted 31 January 2009 Posted 31 January 2009 OH FOR FUCK'S SAKES!!Every bastard, cunting time I come into a thread with a funny response in mind some long-haired, student-wannabe, hippy-looking tit has posted it first. I was gunna post it as well geez. Maybe it aint that funny/original after all. I'm still broken though.
Bellend Sebastian Posted 31 January 2009 Posted 31 January 2009 I think it's time we all fooked off to Poland to work there. There's nothing stopping us, their economy is holding up better than ours, the women are quite fit and the sausages are ace
davieG Posted 31 January 2009 Posted 31 January 2009 When you have successive governments leading the way in practising and preaching the survival of the riches is it any wonder that we have situations like this. In the present set up companies are duty bound to make the most for their share holders and those in charge for themselves, ok in the past we had individuals getting rich off the backs of the majority but at least there was a significant element of philanthropy today it's definitely a case of I'm alright jack. Where everyone else is responsible for what happens to individuals except the individual themselves, where in big business those at the top are rewarded for failure. In a society where spending is considered a virtue, having the latest gadget whilst throwing away perfectly decent stuff, paying vast sums of money to individuals, abcde....xyz celebrities because they have some minimal talent, done something stupid or even committed a crime. Where a large proportion of the public are besotted by these same individual is it any wonder we're in such a fooked up state. I could on but it depresses me too much.
Thracian Posted 31 January 2009 Posted 31 January 2009 I think it's time we all fooked off to Poland to work there. There's nothing stopping us, their economy is holding up better than ours, the women are quite fit and the sausages are ace There's a lot stopping us. For a start, have you ever tried to buy a property in Poland if you're not Polish or not married to a Polish national? The whole idea of truly free movement within Europe would be fine if it existed but it doesn't. There are all sorts of constraints in relation to money, health, the rights to buy a home etc. Agree about their women though!
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