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Strikers in foreign workers row win offer of 102 posts
Joe Murphy, Political Editor4 Feb 2009
Wildcat strikers claimed victory in the foreign workers row after an offer to give 100 jobs to British workers.
The disputes that flared across the country appeared to be ending as new proposals were put to a mass meeting at Lindsey oil refinery in Lincolnshire.
French owners Total offered to create 102 new posts for Britons to work alongside Italian and Portuguese workers, giving parity between local and overseas employees.
Union sources were jubilant and predicted the offer would be accepted. There was relief in Downing Street that a wave of unofficial industrial action that had bitterly divided Labour MPs was coming to an end.
But there were also fears of a tit-for-tat row in which Britons working overseas could be targeted for recriminations by unemployed foreigners.
In the Commons, Gordon Brown welcomed the signals of an imminent deal although he was careful not to take sides. He announced that engineering employers had agreed non-binding guidelines that it was "good practice" to consider the employment of local workers.
Unite member Phil Whitehurst later told a crowd of protesters at Lindsey: "We are genuinely making progress." Amid high spirits, two Page Three models in skimpy tops turned up to cheer up the shivering crowd.
An earlier offer by Total management to create a smaller number of jobs for Britons was rejected by the unions as too small. This afternoon's offer was celebrated as a triumph for unofficial strike action co-ordinated by local organisers rather than the national leadership.
The political fall-out of the dispute continued to cause bad feeling. Six Labour MPs signed a motion branding the importation of foreign workers "exploitation" while another group demanded reform of the EU Posted Workers Directive.
Tory leader David Cameron said the affair had exposed Mr Brown's pledge of British jobs for British workers as hollow.
"Isn't the use of this slogan an error of judgment, a huge mistake, and shouldn't he apologise," he said. "At international summits he lectures the world on the evils of protectionism, but back at home he is pandering to protectionist fears." The Prime Minister retorted: "Can anybody here say that they don't want British workers to get jobs in our country? Can anyone here say that they don't want us to help British workers get the skills that are necessary to get the jobs?"
The dispute flared up after a £200million construction deal was given to Italian firm IREM which imported its own workforce, housed in a floating hotel. Unions said it was typical of major construction projects won by overseas firms allegedly using cheap labour.
