Refinery staff are happy to be back

STRIKING workers at the Lindsey Oil refinery have said they are pleased to have gone back to work.

Hundreds of union members voted to accept a deal and return to work yesterday after a bitter dispute over redundancies and foreign labour.

Nearly 650 of them were sacked by Total during the long wildcat strike, sparked by 51 redundancies and the use of foreign labour.

Scunthorpe shop steward Kenny Ward said: "It is an unprecedented victory, not just for us, but for workers across the sector, in this country, Europe and the world.

"Thanks for the support from our workers across the world."

Mr Ward said last week the dispute had demonstrated the weakness of UK trade union laws, claiming they put 'profit before people'.

Les Bayliss, Unite assistant general secretary, said the successful resolution of the dispute demonstrated the strength of united action.

"The last few days have shown just how much can be achieved through constructive negotiations," he said.

"We hope that the lessons learned at Lindsey are not forgotten.

"As the biggest union in construction we look forward to a new chapter of industrial relations in construction.

"Unite remained committed to getting full reinstatement, nothing less would have been acceptable."

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