War of words in refinery dispute

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Ineos, which runs the giant Grangemouth site in Scotland, accused Unite of refusing to attend peace talks at the conciliation service, Acas, in a bid to break a deadlocked row over pensions.

Up to 1,200 workers at Grangemouth are due to strike on April 27 and 28 in protest at plans to end the company's final salary pension scheme for new workers and to make other pension changes.

The union maintained it had not received an invitation from Acas to attend any new talks and accused the company of "scaremongering" about possible petrol shortages in Scotland and the north of England in the next few days.

National officer, Phil McNulty, said: "The company appears to be inundating the press with stories about imminent petrol shortages, but the fact is that the refinery is still in full production and there is no industrial action going on.

"Indeed, there is no need for any shortages if the company simply withdraws its outlandish attempt to grab money back from the pension fund. I believe they are being irresponsible in concentrating their efforts in scaring the public instead of sitting down to discuss labour costs at the site."

Ineos said Acas had invited both sides to fresh talks and accused the union of refusing.

Chief executive, Tom Crotty, said: "We have always made it clear that the company is ready to attend talks at Acas to help end the current dispute. It is extremely disappointed to hear that Unite is not willing to involve Acas at this stage.

"The union's planned strike could have significant consequences for Scotland and the north of England and we would urge them to work with us to find a way of resolving this issue."

Ineos warned that it had started running the site down and said the strike would effectively close Grangemouth for a month.