Workers block road at Ineos Grangemouth oil refinery in pay dispute

theguardian.com:

Workers have held unofficial strikes at several industrial sites across the UK including Ineos’s Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland in a dispute over pay.

A number of workers employed by a third party rather than Ineos itself blocked a road outside the site for several hours on Wednesday morning. The route is usually used by tankers arriving at and leaving the refinery.

An Ineos spokesperson said its manufacturing and fuel distribution operations were not affected by the strike action.

“The site has a very good working relationship with the contracting companies and their employees at Grangemouth including those operating under the NAECI [National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry],” the spokesperson said.

“We are disappointed that the protesters have chosen to use the Ineos Grangemouth site as one of their backdrops for their unofficial action today.

The Guardian understands Ineos knew in advance about the industrial action, but that it did not result from a strike ballot.

Videos of the unofficial strike shared on social media showed about a hundred workers standing in a road close to the refinery, holding a banner reading “ECIA let’s talk”.

The ECIA – Engineering Construction Industry Association – is the trade body for employers of people who design, construct and maintain process plants used by sectors including oil and gas, water, power generation and petrochemicals.

A pamphlet carried by the strikers shared on social media demanded that the ECIA return to the negotiating table to call for a pay increase for workers