Workers walk out in support of LOR staff
SCUNTHORPE'S workers at the strike-hit Lindsey Oil Refinery are waiting on the outcome of talks between company bosses and union representatives.
Many of the 647 workers sacked from contracts on the site last week live in Scunthorpe or North Lincolnshire and they pledged on Friday they would stand together against Total.
In a statement, the company said it did not expect to learn how many men would re-apply to come back to work on the refinery until the end of the week.
The Total statement said: "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."
GMB general secretary Paul Kenny raised the stakes of the dispute in a speech to the picket line outside the Total refinery.
He said: "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."
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Comments
by PAw, Scunthorpe
Wednesday, June 24 2009, 2:19PM
“The train services in North Lincolnshire are Victorian. The trans pennine route should have been electrified years ago and trains should be travelling at 140mph, not 20mph. The time taken to go from Scunthorpe to Manchester should be one hour, not three. Bus shuttles should never be needed. Labour are taxing people out of their cars and onto public transport but the alternatives are non-existent. Early morning reliability is appalling and trains were rescheduled several years ago to miss the 7-30 non-stop connection from Doncaster to London. That alone shows the contempt that the town is held in by railtrack. Italy is introducing a 300kph national rail service. By comparison Britain is a banana republic.”