Protest at refinery as foreign workers take building jobs

Eight hundred people took part in a massive protest at a Lincolnshire oil refinery, against building jobs at the plant going to foreign workers brought in by the construction contractor.

The protest at the Lindsey oil refinery at North Killingholme in Lincolnshire echoes protests last week at the Staythorpe factory in Nottinghamshire run by Alstom, and follow on from Gordon Brown's pledge to create “British jobs for British workers”.

According to press reports, 250 jobs at the oil refinery have been given to Italian workers by Italian contractor Irem. Other workers walked out of the plant on Wednesday in protest at the move.

The contractors working on large projects like the 2012 Olympics and the construction of new power stations must give UK-based labour a fair chance to work on the projects

Derek Simpson, joint leader of union Unite

Humberside police said that the protest was peaceful, and refinery owner Total said it did not affect operations.

Derek Simpson, joint leader of union Unite, told the Daily Telegraph that he wanted urgent meetings with the government and employers to discuss the “exclusion” of UK workers from some of Britain's major engineering and construction projects.

“We have a growing problem in the engineering and construction industry, where UK workers are being excluded from important projects. The contractors working on large projects like the 2012 Olympics and the construction of new power stations must give UK-based labour a fair chance to work on the projects.”