Refinery Walkouts

omelette451

leveller2911 wrote: »

It will be VERY interesting to see what happens when the middle class white collar workers start getting their wages undercut , its easy for many on here to joke about what is happening.. "Time will tell"

They already do. The number of IT professionals who have seen migrant workers, often from outside the EU, brought to work here to keep wage inflation down has risen enormously over the last few years. Sometimes the jobs have been moved en masse to Bangalore. The difference is that rather than cry about it they've picked themselves up and moved on to something else, or learnt more about what they do and picked up more senior posts as a result. White collar workers know they have to be adaptable and flexible, so it won't be anywhere near as much of an issue, if it is one at all.

scousethife

On every level I can think of, this is stupid.

But the winner has to go to - an energy plant wasteing energy to fly a plane about 2000 miles to bring workers in, when perfectly good ones live round the corner, and add to it the "carbon footprint" of it, well its just a joke really is'nt it! and not a funny one neither.

amcluesent

I await Clown to explain that this influx of cheap Italian workers all started in America.

Labour's not working. Again.

jcumpsty

I havent read the whole thread so I dont know if this has been covered...

I am not opposed to foreign workers. There are plenty of them in the country who provide important required skills.

However I am opposed to a company laying of british workers, to bring in cheap foreign labour in a time when tax payers money is being used to keep a lot of these big companies afloat.

So what I dont understand is why the unions dont call for a boycott of Totals products? I for one would support this in full. Get someone, on the News, to identify EVERY company that Total supplies goods and services to. Then call for every person in the UK, to stop buying ANY product from these companies until Total takes action.

Surely the power of Totals customers cancelling orders to keep customers, would mean that the company would back down rather quickly. There is plenty of options for us to buy products from, so lets get this in action.

mizzbiz

jcumpsty wrote: »

I havent read the whole thread so I dont know if this has been covered...

I am not opposed to foreign workers. There are plenty of them in the country who provide important required skills.

However I am opposed to a company laying of british workers, to bring in cheap foreign labour in a time when tax payers money is being used to keep a lot of these big companies afloat.

So what I dont understand is why the unions dont call for a boycott of Totals products? I for one would support this in full. Get someone, on the News, to identify EVERY company that Total supplies goods and services to. Then call for every person in the UK, to stop buying ANY product from these companies until Total takes action.

Surely the power of Totals customers cancelling orders to keep customers, would mean that the company would back down rather quickly. There is plenty of options for us to buy products from, so lets get this in action.

Did they lay off British staff and replace them with cheap foreign labour? If so, i don't think it has been reported and is, infact, illegal to do so.

dopester

jcumpsty wrote: »

I am not opposed to foreign workers. There are plenty of them in the country who provide important required skills.

However I am opposed to a company laying of british workers, to bring in cheap foreign labour in a time when tax payers money is being used to keep a lot of these big companies afloat.

You should read the company's statement.

And an Italian-Chinese consortium won the contract for de-sulphurisation units in Bulgaria recently... from a number of bidders. That is right - Italian and Chinese workers will be in Bulgaria, doing work.

For Total's (French) Lindsey Oil Refinery

THE number of Italian and Portuguese contractors on the Total Lindsey Oil Refinery will rise to 400 by next month, it has been revealed. The foreign labour, hired to help build a de-sulphurisation unit on the Killingholme site, will account for around 15 per cent of the total workforce.

“However, one-off construction projects like this require a specialist skilled workforce that, due to UK skills shortages, are difficult to source,” he said.
The spokesman pointed out five UK firms were among the original seven to tender for the contract, but they could not provide a directly-employed, permanent specialist skilled workforce.

http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/news/Overseas-workers-contract-Lindsey-Oil-Refinery/article-631426-detail/article.html

I swear.. I think 11 years of HPI and house prices tripling in value under Labour have made many British minds ultra narrow.

omelette451

jcumpsty wrote: »

However I am opposed to a company laying of british workers, to bring in cheap foreign labour in a time when tax payers money is being used to keep a lot of these big companies afloat.

Since when has Total, or indeed any of the energy companies, received government money? Several have reported huge profits in the last week, so it would amaze me if they went cap-in-hand to ask for support. Besides, surely Total would go to the French government, not ours?

Then call for every person in the UK, to stop buying ANY product from these companies until Total takes action.
Surely the power of Totals customers cancelling orders to keep customers, would mean that the company would back down rather quickly.

And how, exactly, do we boycott the emergency services if it turns out they run on Total fuel? And if it turns out our local bus companies use it, do we have to stay at home for the next two weeks and not go anywhere?

In any case, the Italians are not being employed by Total: they're working for the subcontractors. As far as I know there is no way Total could 'back down' even if it wanted to, since to do so would be a breach of the contract it signed with the subcontractors.