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There is interestingly little coverage on what the oilworkers are actually striking about, just the repercussions of their strike. This plays into the owners who wish to make sure that the strike/industrial action = unions playing havoc equation stays strong. This is heightened by the statement on Ineos's website:

Union Statement Shows Strike is About Pensions For Non Existent Workers

Which makes it look like the unions are stopping a third of the UK's oil production over, literally, nothing.

Of course, to portray future workers as 'non-existent' is a misrepresentation, the unions simply wish to see the current - affordable - pension scheme not closed to future members. But there was also a second issue at stake, that of 'reducing the value of the pension to current staff' (from Unite's website). Both of these issues are what the strikers were balloted on, and resolved by 97% to strike against.

However, Ineos during 'negotiations' suspended all changes to current members' pensions, leaving only the future members as an issue. Of course, this has allowed them to portray the strike action as harming the UK economy without any benefit to anybody currently in existence.

As Jerome pointed out, the real problem is not the closure of the Grangemouth refinery itself, but that it is part of a larger piece of infrastructure: the Forties pipeline, and the Kinneil plant. A private company has thoughtlessly been handed a key piece of national infrastructure, and can now use its 'national importance' as a way of framing a dispute against the unions. A lot of their press releases 'plead' with the union not to spread the dispute and punish unconnected parties, but when they own such an important asset, such a knockon effect is unavoidable at some point.

Member of the Anti-Fabulousness League since 1987.

by Ephemera on Sun Apr 27th, 2008 at 03:50:22 PM EST
A private company has thoughtlessly been handed a key piece of national infrastructure, and can now use its 'national importance' as a way of framing a dispute against the unions.

bingo, just like northern rock and bear stearns.

the crude, cruel lines of power politics emerge....

get big enough and you too can be 'too important to have to play by the same rules the plebs have to'.

splendid port, my man!

~Government budget deficits are not nearly as dangerous as the deficits we have created in vital and complex natural systems.~ Naomi Klein.

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Mon Apr 28th, 2008 at 07:07:40 AM EST
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