Workers at the huge Grangemouth oil refinery will be told today whether the plant has a future – or faces permanent closure amid an increasingly bitter dispute about a survival plan put forward by the owners.
Ineos said chairman Calum MacLean will address the workforce following the passing of a deadline for accepting new pensions and other terms and conditions.
The Unite union said around 680 of the site’s 1,370-strong workforce had rejected the company’s proposals, which include a pay freeze for 2014-16, removal of a bonus up to 2016, a reduced shift allowance, and ending of the final-salary pension scheme.
Ineos said owner Jim Ratcliffe and other shareholders met yesterday to study the response from the workforce to their survival plan, and wanted the employees to be the first to know of any decision the company makes.
A statement said: “Ineos is now considering the numbers of employees that have given their support to its survival plan. Results were presented to a meeting of its shareholders yesterday.
“Ineos shareholders will then decide the next step in the process. The company will first communicate the shareholders’ views to the workforce directly today.
“Consultations on the survival plan formally began last Thursday. It will take 45 days before any changes to terms and conditions can be introduced and 60 days before any changes to pensions can be implemented.”
The union Unite accused the company of playing “Russian roulette” with the future of Grangemouth, the biggest industrial site in Scotland, and backed any efforts by the Scottish Government to find a new buyer for the oil refinery and petrochemical complex.
Finance Secretary John Swinney said the dispute was now a “stalemate”, adding that “alternative options” were being considered, although he dismissed any idea of government ownership of the site.
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: “Jim Ratcliffe’s behaviour has exposed a dreadful frailty at the heart of our energy supply, which is that one man’s power and wealth can hold our governments and citizens to ransom.
“Our politicians need now to step up. Our public utilities cannot be run by those indifferent to considerations of social responsibility.
“Unite calls upon politicians in Edinburgh and Westminster to support a new beginning for Grangemouth, free of the tyranny of one man’s whims.
“If this means securing financial assistance – or even nationalisation – then this must be done.”
Last Thursday, Ineos sent a letter to all the workers asking them to indicate their rejection or acceptance of the plan.
It said those who supported the survival plan would receive a transitional payment of up to £15,000.