2nd UPDATE: Total Encouraging Talks With Unions, Contractors
June 23 2009 - 7:37AM
Dow Jones News
Negotiations between contractors from Total SA's (TOT) 200,000
barrels-a-day U.K Lindsey oil refinery and unions will go ahead in
London later Tuesday following protests at energy plants across the
country over job cuts at the site.
Total SA (TOT) Tuesday said it is "actively encouraging" the
talks over how to facilitate the return of contract workers to a
construction project at Lindsey.
"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," Total said in a statement
Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for conciliation agency ACAS confirmed, however,
there will be no official joint talks taking place through them
today.
Spokesman for the union Unite Ciaran Naidoo told Dow Jones
Newswires there has been some progress in negotiations and a joint
meeting would be held between the unions and representatives for
the contractors from the trade association for the U.K engineering
construction industry.
The negotiations will review a working practice agreement signed
by both parties through the Engineering and Construction Industry
Association.
"At the top of the agenda is obviously the reinstatement of the
workers who have lost their jobs at Lindsey as soon as possible,"
Naidoo said.
Total said delays, under-performance and low productivity at the
project have already cost in the region of an additional EUR100
million.
Friday, Total fired 647 contract workers at Lindsey following
unofficial industrial action, and offered a deadline of Monday
afternoon to contractors to reapply for their jobs. Total said it
will be the end of the week before its contractors can say how many
workers will return to work.
"There is no question of a reduction in pay or dilution of
existing terms and conditions," it said in its statement
Tuesday.
More than 2,000 workers extended unofficial strikes in sympathy
with the Lindsey contractors Tuesday, although operations weren't
affected at any of the sites where walkouts were reported.
Facilities affected by strikes Tuesday included: ConocoPhillips'
(COP) 221,000-barrels-a-day Humber refinery, Royal Dutch Shell
PLC's (RDSB.LN) 240,000-barrels-a-day Stanlow refinery, RWE AG's
(RWE.XE) Aberthaw and Didcot A power stations, the Dragon liquefied
natural gas terminal in Wales, BP PLC's (BP) Saltend chemical
plant, and Ensus Group's biofuel plant under construction on
Teesside.
-By Angela Henshall, Dow Jones Newswires; (4420) 7842 9285;
angela.henshall@dowjones.com (Lananh Nguyen and Reza Amanat
contributed to this story.)