Britons walk out in foreign jobs protest

HUNDREDS of furious British oil workers downed tools yesterday in protest at the hiring of cheap foreign labour.

As the UK jobs crisis continues to deepen, the entire workforce at a refinery near Immingham Docks, Humberside, walked off the job.

The 600 workers – made up of skilled riggers, scaffolders, welders and construction engineers – were outraged after learning that 220 

Italian workers have been brought in to join them on the Lindsey Oil Refinery, Britain’s third largest.

The foreign workforce has been staying in a “floating hotel” at nearby Grimsby and was brought in by Total, the French oil giant which owns the refinery. Under EU law the company is allowed to undercut British wages by hiring employees from other member states.

Last night, the refinery’s British workers claimed there was plenty of manpower available for hire locally and that bosses were simply taking the cheapest option.

One angry docker said: “We just think it should be British jobs for British workers.

“There are plenty of people in this country who could do with the work, yet they have brought people in from abroad. It’s all about money, as they won’t tell us how much they are 

being paid.

“We are losing £120 a day by not going in and will probably be threatened with the sack tomorrow, but it’s a question of principle.”

Another worker said: “We gave Total a list of names of skilled workers locally who are out of work, but they ignored it.

“It is all about money and is a case of foreign workers coming in and taking our jobs. It’s just not on.”

Another worker, who wished not to be named, claimed Italian workers were being given longer lunch breaks, more than £1,000 extra in travel expenses and were not contributing any tax payment to the country.

But, he said, the walkout was prompted because new workers compromised the site’s health and safety.

He said: “The straw that broke the camel’s back was the health and safety issues. Apparently 23 of the welders were tested and only three passed to a British health and safety standard.

“They have been bumping into things and moving scaffolding without telling anyone. When we go up on that scaffolding without knowing it’s been loosened it’s a fatal accident waiting to happen. How can they claim there is a lack of skilled workers when the workers they have brought in aren’t even trained to our standards.”

He added: “We have a foreign company Total, who are French, giving British jobs to foreign workers for an Italian contractor – another complete farce of a situation on a major contract in recession-hit Britain.”

Last night a spokesman for Total said: “A number of contractors working on the HDS3 project at Lindsey Oil Refinery have staged a walkout this morning. The HDS3 unit is separate to the main refinery, and 

as such, this action has not affected the normal operation of the 

refinery.

“The main contractor, Jacobs, is currently having discussions with the workers and union representatives. We hope the situation will be resolved as soon as possible.”

As a port facility with major rail links, Immingham Dock was opened six miles downstream from Grimsby by the Great Central Railway in 1912. The row there is not the first involving foreign workers at UK plants in recent weeks.

It follows similar outrage over foreign construction teams allegedly being favoured for the building of a new power station at Staythorpe, near Newark, Nottinghamshire.

Union chiefs say the situations in Grimsby and Staythorpe make a mockery of Gordon Brown’s promise of “British jobs for British workers”.

Today workers from around the country are expected to gather in Grimsby to demonstrate in support of the striking oil workers.

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