At the beginning of March, a one-day strike took place at the BP Hull site on Humberside where a multi-million pound bio-ethanol fuel plant is being constructed. After lengthy discussions with Redhalls, the main construction contractor, shop stewards from the GMB and UNITE unions moved to a dispute over the way Redhalls planned to carry out redundancies. According to the NAECI industry agreement, length of service on the contract and not with the employer is the principle by which redundancy selection and compensation takes place. This led to the one-day, unofficial strike by 431 Redhalls workers, supported by electricians and scaffolders who refused to cross the picket line. The company backed down but some ten days later, the 400 odd workers were refused entry upon arriving at work and were told that Redhalls had had its contract terminated by Vivergo Fuels which runs the new bio-ethanol plant. Nonetheless, they were told to report for work as normal the next day. When they returned, they were informed they had been dismissed (without their due wages paid). Vivergo Fuels, which is majority owned by BP but with British Sugar and DuPont, issued a statement saying it had cancelled the Redhalls contract because the works ‘should have been completed by February 2011’ but was ‘only 69% complete’ and the construction site had been closed for a period of assessment.
d that Redhalls had had its contract terminated by Vivergo Fuels which runs the new bio-ethanol plant. Nonetheless, they were told to report for work as normal the next day. When they returned, they were informed they had been dismissed (without their due wages paid). Vivergo Fuels, which is majority owned by BP but with British Sugar and DuPont, issued a statement saying it had cancelled the Redhalls contract because the works ‘should have been completed by February 2011’ but was ‘only 69% com
…Do you have information to share with us?