Refinery Strikers Vote To Return To Work

Workers at the Lindsey oil refinery have voted to return to work after accepting a peace formula involving an additional 102 jobs open to local workers.

The settlement has been agreed between the clients Total, main contractor Jacobs, and the Unite and GMB unions. It follows a week of nationwide wildcat action over the engagemrent of foreign labour by Italian subcontractor IREM.

In a statement Total commented: "

We are very pleased that the Lindsey Oil Refinery contractors have agreed to return to work, following a meeting with Union officials this morning.We look forward to working with the contractors on the £200m expansion project (HDS-3) that will help to secure the future of the refinery and local employment for many years to come.We would like to highlight again that we have not, and will not, discriminate against British companies and British workers...We remain absolutely committed to the UK workforce. Total and Jacobs, our main contractor, proposed to the Unions during talks that 102 extra workers will be employed on the HDS-3 project. We hope this is a further demonstration of our commitment to local employment opportunities.These additional workers will be employed in new positions and work alongside IREM and its permanent workforce. There will be no redundancies as a result of this announcement....We would like to thank ACAS for its involvement in the talks and in ensuring a swift resolution was reached."