2009 Lindsey Oil Refinery strikes
Encyclopedia
The 2009 Lindsey Oil Refinery strikes were a series of wildcat strikes that affected the energy industry in the United Kingdom
in 2009. The action involved workers at around a dozen energy sites across the UK who walked out in support of other British workers at the Total
's Lindsey Oil Refinery
. The Lindsey Oil Refinery construction workers went on strike because employment was not offered to them on a £200 million construction contract to build a hydro desulphurisation unit at the site.
's local contractors went on strike following the appointment by the Italian
construction contractor IREM
of several hundred European (mainly Italian and Portuguese
) contractors on the site at a time of high unemployment in the local and global economy. The action attracted considerable media interest.
Workers contended that the strike was in defence of a national agreement determining wages and conditions in the industry.
The protests were largely portrayed in the British media as being solely about the use the European Union's Posted Workers Directive
to discriminate against British workers, prompting Unite the union
to make a statement on 4 February to refute xenophobic comments in the media. Since European Union
law enshrines the right to the freedom of movement for workers between EU member states, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown
said: "When I talked about British jobs, I was talking about giving people in Britain the skills, so that they have the ability to get jobs which were at present going to people from abroad, and actually encouraging people to take up the courses and the education and learning that is necessary for British workers to be far more skilled for the future." Asked for his message to people considering the wildcat strikes, he said: "That that's not the right thing to do and it's not defensible." Italian and Portuguese construction workers, living on barges in nearby docks, were set to starting work there. British trade unions claimed Britons were not given any opportunity to apply for the posts.
Additional contractors at other sites in the United Kingdom also initiated action as a result of the protests. On 30 January, around 700 workers at the Grangemouth Oil Refinery in central Scotland
walked out in solidarity with the North Lincolnshire strikers. They were also joined by 50 strikers in Aberthaw
, in South Wales, 400 at the ICI site in Wilton, Teesside. and walkouts also took place at British Petroleum in Saltend, Hull
.
Following several days of talks between representatives from TOTAL
and the GMB union which were chaired by Acas
, a deal was finally struck on 5 February and workers at the refinery agreed to return to work the following Monday. The deal would see 102 new jobs being created for British workers in addition to the posts awarded to an IREM. An earlier deal that would have seen the creation of 60 British jobs (40 skilled and 20 unskilled) had been rejected. On 16 February an Acas report concluded that Total had not broken the law in employing Italian workers at the refinery.
The strike at Lindsey resumed on 11 June 2009, after a subcontractor at the site laid off a number of employees, later confirmed to be 51. The strike was quickly followed by sympathy strikes at Cheshire
's Fiddlers Ferry Power Station
on 15 June and Aberthaw on 17 June. The strikes escalated on 18 June, with walkouts at Drax Power Station and Eggborough Power Station
in Yorkshire
and Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station
in Nottinghamshire
, BP Saltend, and the BOC
oxygen plant at Scunthorpe
.
Paul Kenny
, General Secretary of the GMB trade union, said: "GMB condemn the action of Total. Total have for a full week refused to meet the union to resolve the problems through ACAS. It seems pretty obvious that there is a mass case of victimisation taking place here. Locking out the workforce at Lindsay will not solve the problem. It will escalate it."
Workers at the Lindsey refinery were invited to re-apply for their jobs, with managers at Total giving them a deadline of 17:00 on Monday 22 June 2009 to do so. However, angered by the actions of the management, workers burned their dismissal letters at a protest outside the refinery. Around 3,000 workers at other sites around the country also walked out in support of the Lindsey workers.
Negotiations between Total and representatives of the GMB union
were adjourned on Tuesday 23 June with some progress having been made, but sources said a number of "significant barriers" remained outstanding before the dispute could be resolved. Talks resumed on 25 June, and an agreement was reached late that evening to end the industrial action, accepted at a mass meeting outside the refinery on the following Monday. The deal included the reinstatement of the 647 workers at the Lindsey site who had been sacked for taking unofficial action, offers of alternative jobs for the 51 workers laid off, and assurances that workers at power stations and oil and gas terminals who walked out in sympathy would not be victimised. On 29 June workers at the refinery voted to accept the deal.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 2009. The action involved workers at around a dozen energy sites across the UK who walked out in support of other British workers at the Total
Total S.A.
Total S.A. is a French multinational oil company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world.Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas exploration and production to power generation, transportation, refining, petroleum product marketing, and...
's Lindsey Oil Refinery
Lindsey Oil Refinery
Lindsey Oil Refinery is a Total owned oil refinery on Eastfield Road in North Killingholme, North Lincolnshire, England. It lies immediately north of the Humber Refinery owned by rival oil company ConocoPhillips, being north of the railway line to Immingham Docks. The former RAF North Killingholme...
. The Lindsey Oil Refinery construction workers went on strike because employment was not offered to them on a £200 million construction contract to build a hydro desulphurisation unit at the site.
January 2009 action
On 28 January 2009, approximately 800 of Lindsey Oil RefineryLindsey Oil Refinery
Lindsey Oil Refinery is a Total owned oil refinery on Eastfield Road in North Killingholme, North Lincolnshire, England. It lies immediately north of the Humber Refinery owned by rival oil company ConocoPhillips, being north of the railway line to Immingham Docks. The former RAF North Killingholme...
's local contractors went on strike following the appointment by the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
construction contractor IREM
Irem (construction company)
IREM S.p.A is an Italian construction contracting global company. It was founded in 1979 by a group of professionals with experience in the mechanical construction business.-2009 Lindsay Oil Refinery protests:...
of several hundred European (mainly Italian and Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
) contractors on the site at a time of high unemployment in the local and global economy. The action attracted considerable media interest.
Workers contended that the strike was in defence of a national agreement determining wages and conditions in the industry.
The protests were largely portrayed in the British media as being solely about the use the European Union's Posted Workers Directive
Posted Workers Directive
The EU Posted Workers Directive is an EU directive concerned with the free movement of workers within the European Union. It makes an exception to the Convention on the Law Applicable to Contractual Obligations 1980, which ordinarily requires that workers are protected by the law of the member...
to discriminate against British workers, prompting Unite the union
Unite the Union
Unite – the Union, known as Unite, is a British and Irish trade union, formed on 1 May 2007, by the merger of Amicus and the Transport and General Workers' Union...
to make a statement on 4 February to refute xenophobic comments in the media. Since European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
law enshrines the right to the freedom of movement for workers between EU member states, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
said: "When I talked about British jobs, I was talking about giving people in Britain the skills, so that they have the ability to get jobs which were at present going to people from abroad, and actually encouraging people to take up the courses and the education and learning that is necessary for British workers to be far more skilled for the future." Asked for his message to people considering the wildcat strikes, he said: "That that's not the right thing to do and it's not defensible." Italian and Portuguese construction workers, living on barges in nearby docks, were set to starting work there. British trade unions claimed Britons were not given any opportunity to apply for the posts.
Additional contractors at other sites in the United Kingdom also initiated action as a result of the protests. On 30 January, around 700 workers at the Grangemouth Oil Refinery in central Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
walked out in solidarity with the North Lincolnshire strikers. They were also joined by 50 strikers in Aberthaw
Aberthaw Power Station
Aberthaw Power Station refers to a series of two coal-fired power stations situated on the coast of South Wales, near Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan. It is actually located on the waterfront of the nearby villages of Gileston and West Aberthaw on Limpert Bay...
, in South Wales, 400 at the ICI site in Wilton, Teesside. and walkouts also took place at British Petroleum in Saltend, Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
.
Following several days of talks between representatives from TOTAL
Total
-Mathematics:*Total, the summation of a set of numbers* Total function, a type of partial function in mathematics* Total order, a common total relation in mathematics* Total relation, a type of binary relation in mathematics-Business and enterprise:...
and the GMB union which were chaired by Acas
Acas
The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service is a Crown non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom. Its purpose is to improve organisations and working life through the promotion and facilitation of strong industrial relations practice...
, a deal was finally struck on 5 February and workers at the refinery agreed to return to work the following Monday. The deal would see 102 new jobs being created for British workers in addition to the posts awarded to an IREM. An earlier deal that would have seen the creation of 60 British jobs (40 skilled and 20 unskilled) had been rejected. On 16 February an Acas report concluded that Total had not broken the law in employing Italian workers at the refinery.
The strike at Lindsey resumed on 11 June 2009, after a subcontractor at the site laid off a number of employees, later confirmed to be 51. The strike was quickly followed by sympathy strikes at Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
's Fiddlers Ferry Power Station
Fiddlers Ferry Power Station
Fiddlers Ferry Power Station is a coal fired power station located in Cheshire in North West England, which is capable of co-firing biomass. It is situated on the north bank of the River Mersey between the towns of Widnes and Warrington. Opened in 1971, the station has a generating capacity of...
on 15 June and Aberthaw on 17 June. The strikes escalated on 18 June, with walkouts at Drax Power Station and Eggborough Power Station
Eggborough Power Station
Eggborough Power Station is a large coal-fired power station in North Yorkshire, England, capable of co-firing biomass. It is siuated on the River Aire, between the towns of Knottingley and Snaith, deriving its name from the nearby village of Eggborough...
in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
and Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station
Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station
Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station is a coal-fired power station operated by E.ON UK at Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire, England. Commissioned in 1968 by the then Central Electricity Generating Board, the station has a capacity of 2,000 MW...
in Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
, BP Saltend, and the BOC
The BOC Group
The BOC Group plc was the official name of the multinational industrial gas and British based company more commonly known as BOC, and now a part of The Linde Group. In September 2004, BOC had over 30,000 employees on six continents, with sales of over £4.6 billion. BOC was a constituent of the...
oxygen plant at Scunthorpe
Scunthorpe
Scunthorpe is a town within North Lincolnshire, England. It is the administrative centre of the North Lincolnshire unitary authority, and had an estimated total resident population of 72,514 in 2010. A predominantly industrial town, Scunthorpe, the United Kingdom's largest steel processing centre,...
.
June 2009 action
On 19 June 2009 nearly 700 construction staff were sacked at the Lindsey Oil Refinery. The sackings came following 1,200 workers walking out unofficially at the plant in a jobs dispute. The following plants walked out in sympathy:- Stanlow oil refinery, Ellesmere PortEllesmere PortEllesmere Port is a large industrial town and port in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is situated on the south border of the Wirral Peninsula on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal, which in turn gives access to the River...
, CheshireCheshireCheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow... - Aberthaw, CardiffCardiffCardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
- Ferrybridge power stationFerrybridge power stationThe Ferrybridge power stations refers to a series of three coal-fired power stations situated on the River Aire in West Yorkshire, England. The first station on the site, Ferrybridge A power station, was constructed in the mid-1920s, and was closed as the second station, Ferrybridge B power...
, West YorkshireWest YorkshireWest Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972.... - Staythorpe Power StationStaythorpe Power StationStaythorpe C Power Station is a 1,700 MWe gas-fired power station between Southwell and Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire, between the River Trent and Nottingham to Lincoln Line. It opened in 2010.-History:...
, NottinghamshireNottinghamshireNottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west... - Ensus site, Wilton chemical complex, Teeside
- Drax and Eggborough power stations, near Selby, North Yorkshire
- Fiddler's Ferry power station in Cheshire
Paul Kenny
Paul Kenny
Paul Stephen Kenny is General Secretary of the GMB, Britain's third biggest union.-Trade unions:He became a full-time GMB official in December 1979. In 1991 he became the Regional Secretary of the GMB London Region....
, General Secretary of the GMB trade union, said: "GMB condemn the action of Total. Total have for a full week refused to meet the union to resolve the problems through ACAS. It seems pretty obvious that there is a mass case of victimisation taking place here. Locking out the workforce at Lindsay will not solve the problem. It will escalate it."
Workers at the Lindsey refinery were invited to re-apply for their jobs, with managers at Total giving them a deadline of 17:00 on Monday 22 June 2009 to do so. However, angered by the actions of the management, workers burned their dismissal letters at a protest outside the refinery. Around 3,000 workers at other sites around the country also walked out in support of the Lindsey workers.
Negotiations between Total and representatives of the GMB union
GMB Union
The GMB is a general trade union in the United Kingdom, and has more than 600,000 members. Its members are drawn from many sectors, with particular strength amongst manual workers in local government and the health service...
were adjourned on Tuesday 23 June with some progress having been made, but sources said a number of "significant barriers" remained outstanding before the dispute could be resolved. Talks resumed on 25 June, and an agreement was reached late that evening to end the industrial action, accepted at a mass meeting outside the refinery on the following Monday. The deal included the reinstatement of the 647 workers at the Lindsey site who had been sacked for taking unofficial action, offers of alternative jobs for the 51 workers laid off, and assurances that workers at power stations and oil and gas terminals who walked out in sympathy would not be victimised. On 29 June workers at the refinery voted to accept the deal.