Unite's fight for Grangemouth intensifies as workers begin to learn their futures as initial redundancies announced

Unite, the UK’s leading union, has described the announcement that workers at the Grangemouth refinery have begun to be told their futures, “as a national disgrace.'

Under the plans by Petroineos to close the refinery and establish an import terminal, the majority of the workers are set to leave Grangemouth, job losses are set to take effect in a time span of three to 18 months.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “It is a quite frankly a national disgrace that Petroineos has been allowed to press ahead with this needless act of industrial vandalism. There is a clear plan for the future of Grangemouth in place. Yet the UK and Scottish governments are missing in action. 

Just last week the UK government announced the expansion  of Heathrow and said  that sustainable air fuel (SAF) will be needed.  Well Grangemouth  can produce SAF - where is the joined up thinking? It is clear the company is acting in the national interest in China. Who is acting in Britain's interest - who has got Britain's back?

 

“This the moment for the government to lead and stand up to Petroinoes in the national interest. Petroinoes must allow the transition to SAF and biofuels. If the company refuses the government should be the investor of first resort. There will be 3,500 per cent increase in SAF demand. The market is there.

 

“Today's announcement will not deter us. We will fight for the future of the refinery and the associated jobs.''

The failure of the UK and Scottish governments to offer a solution for workers facing the loss of skilled, well-paid employment, is stark. Rather than looking to implement plans to ensure employment at Grangemouth, both governments have accepted the demands of Petroineos, that is putting its own interests ahead of workers, communities and the Scottish economy.

Unite has established a clear pathway for the future of Grangemouth, which is in line with the government’s own mandate to introduce the use of SAF. The plan demonstrates how other refineries in the world have been quickly transitioned to produce SAF and biofuels. This would begin with the co-production of SAF and petroleum, which will protect existing jobs and skills.

Last week Rachel Reeves in her set piece growth speech highlighted how the support for Heathrow’s expansion was directly linked to the introduction of SAF for UK flights. However, this was not linked to a plan to transition Grangemouth to SAF production, and the government will be unable to meet its own target of SAF production by 2030 without it.

The redundancies are only for directly employed PetroIneos workers. An impact assessment for PWC has found that there are 2,800 workers directly reliant on the refinery. It is only the 500 directly employed workers who are currently finding out about their futures.

Unite Scottish secretary Derek Thomson said: “It is unsurprising that some workers want to leave as they have been facing years of uncertainty, with the threat of job losses hanging over them.

 

“These are incredibly skilled workers who are essential to the success of the Scottish economy and have the necessary skills to lead the just transition to a green economy. The workers and their skills must not be lost.”

ENDS