Strikes over use of foreign workers

buckrogers

A bitter dispute over the use of foreign workers on a multimillion-pound construction project

A decision to bring in hundreds of Italian and Portuguese contractors to work on a new £200 million plant at the giant Lindsey Oil Refinery at North Killingholme, North Lincolnshire, led to protests in support of jobs for British workers.

it's against foreign companies discriminating against British labour.

The contaract was out to tender. Five UK firms and two European contractors tendered for the work and it was awarded to the Italian company

Whats this country coming to when even in a recession work is not been giving to British labour?.

lilac_lady

Do no British people work in Europe?

Edited to say: unless we leave the European Union this will continue to happen.

continualdiamond

I find this a bit touchy as i myself an a foreign worker, im from Australia, so technically i am put into this group 'forgein workers' as well.

I talked to my OH about this as we have a smiliar situation at staythorpe power station about jobs not going to british workers and he said i didn't count because i went for a job interview and got the job fair and square and was obviously better than the other people interviewed.

However it still makes me feel bad when i hear about stuff like this, as if i shouldn't be here when i have every right to live and work where i want.

buckrogers

Yes they do.

But the Italian company tendered for the work on the basis that it was supplying its own permanent workforce

shouldnt of be allowed and it was.

Degenerate

buckrogers wrote: »

Yes they do.

But the Italian company tendered for the work on the basis that it was supplying its own permanent workforce.

Ok, now I understand the anger.

If a foreign company wants to tender for a UK contract, that's fair enough. If EU workers want to work in the UK, that is also fair enough, as it works both ways in the EU.

However, all of these jobs should have been available for local applicants to apply for... be they British, Italian, Polish or any other legal EU workers.

SailorSam

So if the the Italian company said in their tender they intended to bring their own workers, the fault cannot said to be with these workers , who were getting shouted at, nor can it be with the company they work for. If any wrong has been done it must lie with whoever issued and accepted the tender.

Errata

If any wrong has been done it must lie with whoever issued and accepted the tender.

They may soon be wishing they hadn't !

simpywimpy

Thanks for making the situation clearer. I also think no tender should have been accepted without the positions being open to all. Pressure should be brought to bear on the decision makers and get them to reverse their decision - more so in the current climate!!

pepperwhitemini

Degenerate wrote: »

Ok, now I understand the anger.

If a foreign company wants to tender for a UK contract, that's fair enough. If EU workers want to work in the UK, that is also fair enough, as it works both ways in the EU.

But Italy is a member of the EU so surely EU workers are going to be doing the work?

xxlaurissaxx

Yes but these workers that were brought in worked for this italian company so they had jobs in italy already. Surely with all the millions of brits that are unemployed just now, they should have got first chance.

I have nothing against people from other countries but surely since they already had jobs, then it should of went to a british contractor especially with the the current climate of this country. xx

Degenerate

pepperwhitemini wrote: »

But Italy is a member of the EU so surely EU workers are going to be doing the work?

You missed the point. They should take applications locally. Any worker from any EU state can apply for a job here and move themselves to the UK. Shipping in an entire workforce from a specific country without alllowing competition from all comers for the jobs is not fair play.

With Italian labour rates and the pound/euro as it is, I don't see how they would even be cheaper.