The management of the INEOS refinery and petrochemicals facility in Grangemouth gave workers a ‘sign or be sacked’ ultimatum to slash jobs, pay and pensions with a deadline by 21 October 6pm. Unite the Union urged workers not to give in to the ‘menacing’ tactics to sign away their rights since this would create a two tier workforce and strip away collective rights. At the end of the deadline given by INEOS over 65% rejected the company’s cynical attempt to intimidate the workforce. After the reopening of talks it was believed that the union would not let the plant close and was willing to accept a new survival plan. Therefore, Unite and its members at Grangemouth were devastated by the announcement of the closure of the petrochemical plant. A day later the news came that the owners will reverse the decision to close the petrochemical site.
English: http://www.unitetheunion.org/news/grangemouth-petrochemical-plant-closure ...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/grangemouth-unite-union-to-make ...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-24647843
http://www.industriall-union.org/scottish-workers-continue-to-fight-against-ineos-for-their-future
For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.