Protests over foreign labour spread

Feb 2 2009

Wildcat strikes over foreign labour spread as the bitter dispute escalated despite calls from the Government for the industrial action to stop.

Contract workers at the Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria, Heysham nuclear power station in Lancashire and Staythorpe power station near Newark in Nottinghamshire were among those taking unofficial action for the first time.

One union official called on every trade unionist in the construction industry to join the series of walkouts in protest at the hiring of Italian and Portuguese workers at a power station in Lincolnshire.

Meanwhile, the start of crucial talks aimed at resolving the row was set to be delayed because of the extreme weather, which caused chaos to Britain's transport network.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson maintained that UK firms and workers were not being discriminated against and called for the unofficial strikes to stop.

Lord Mandelson said he understood the concerns of British workers, but he stressed that Total, which runs the Lincolnshire power station at the centre of the row, had refuted claims that UK workers had been excluded from contracts.

He added that the contract at the centre of the dispute was originally awarded to a British firm but it did not fulfil it so it was given to an Italian company which then drew on its own workforce. The minister also said workers at another site owned by Total had voted not to join the unofficial strikes.

He stressed that under EU law companies had the right to sub-contract work to those companies "best suited" for the job. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that claims that British workers had been excluded from the disputed contract, or that foreign workers were being paid less than the going rate, were both unfounded.

Management at Sellafield said the contractors who walked out this morning were building new storage facilities at the site.

Bosses from Total will meet sub-contractors and union leaders for hastily-arranged talks in Scunthorpe. Moves are also under way to set up a special panel, under an independent chairman, to review the recruitment of the hundreds of Italian and Portuguese workers on the £200 million plant at the giant Lindsey Oil Refinery at North Killingholme, North Lincolnshire.