UPDATE: UK Energy Plant Workers Reject Pay Offer - Union
October 05 2009 - 11:42AM
Dow Jones News
Thousands of engineering and construction workers at U.K. energy
plants have voted to reject their employers' offer to improve pay
and conditions and may begin industrial action, a leading union
said Monday.
Up to 30,000 engineering and construction workers rejected the
offer following individual ballots held over the past two weeks,
the GMB union said.
The GMB union said workers at seven sites - Ineos PLC's
210,000-barrels-a-day Grangemouth refinery in Scotland, Royal Dutch
Shell PLC's (RDSB.LN) 240,000-barrels-a-day Stanlow refinery, RWE
AG's (RWE.XE) Aberthaw and Staythorpe power stations, Chevron
Corp.'s (CVX) Pembroke Refinery in Wales and the Sellafield nuclear
site in England - had now voted in favor of another round of
industrial action.
In June, hundreds of laid-off workers at Total SA's
200,000-barrels-a-day Lindsey oil refinery staged protests and got
their jobs backs after contractor companies at the site met
demands.
The protest prompted copycat strikes at dozens of other sites
across the country resulting in more than 8% of the engineering and
construction industry's workforce downing tools.
The speed and scale of the wildcat strikes, unprecedented in the
U.K., caught energy companies by surprise, with the protests
organized by assembling large groups of people at specific sites
using mass text messages and social networking Web sites. It is a
phenomenon that could easily be recreated this winter if workers
decide to strike again, according to industry analysts.
"The members want the package to be completed now so that they
can see what they are getting. The next step is to go back to the
employers to see if they are up for further talks," Phil Davies,
GMB national secretary, said.
The GMB is seeking, among other demands, a national skills
register and a procedure to ensure all workers have appropriate
skills, plus a register of unemployed workers in the industry which
employers must use to fill vacancies.
The unions are also looking for a pay rise for workers, in
addition to 12 paid trips home for all workers regardless of where
they come from, plus the ability for full-time union officials to
instigate grievance procedures at any site.
-By Angela Henshall, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9285;
angela.henshall@dowjones.com