Foreign worker row sparks walkouts

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, sparked protests in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and other parts of England in support of jobs for UK workers.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown was told his infamous phrase about creating British jobs for British workers had come back to "haunt him". Labour MP Nigel Griffiths launched his own inquiry into whether European laws had been broken by excluding British workers from contracts, while the union at the centre of the dispute announced plans for a huge demonstration in Westminster.

Unite joint leader Derek Simpson said: "The Government must act urgently and insist that companies involved in engineering and construction projects give UK workers equal opportunities to build Britain's infrastructure."

Thousands of workers at sites including power stations and oil refineries took unofficial strike action on Friday and there was speculation the dispute will escalate on Monday and spread "like wildfire" across the country if the deadlock is not broken.

Up to 1,000 demonstrators staged a protest for the third consecutive day at a new £200 million plant at the giant Lindsey Oil Refinery at North Killingholme, North Lincolnshire, where the row started.

There were sympathy strikes at the giant Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland; the Aberthaw power station near Barry in South Wales; a refinery in Wilton, Teesside; Kilroot power station in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland; a gas terminal at Milford Haven, West Wales; the Fiddlers Ferry power station near Warrington and a number of other smaller sites.

Around 100 Italian and Portuguese workers are on the North Killingholme site, accommodated in large, grey barges moored in Grimsby docks, and are expected to be joined by 300 more next month.

Total said the Irem contract involved no anticipated redundancies from the existing contractor workforce and stressed that local companies would be providing additional support services to the project.

But Shona McIsaac, Labour MP for Cleethorpes, said the decision to hire foreign workers was like a "red rag to a bull" to local unemployed people.