Featured Grangemouth’s renaissance. THE huge gas storage tank and impressive new offices at Grangemouth have become a symbols of hope. The tank – believed to be. The Grangemouth oil refinery dispute took on a new turn in the autumn. It quadrupled the size of INEOS overnight and brought with it some of the world’s largest industrial sites. His name was Siggi, he stood 6ft 4in tall and was known to represent employees robustly, but fairly. It’s a very generous bonus scheme.” He responded: “I would rather you spend the money on the plant, on capital expenditure, maintenance and painting so we can be sure there will be jobs for the employees’ children and their children.”. There has never been a strike on that site, or a hint of one. ![]() ![]() The union, on behalf of employees and INEOS, share a common goal: a long- term, successful future. Employees retain good- quality jobs, and INEOS makes profitable returns and reinvests on the site. ![]() ![]() And, equally regrettably, the German chemical industry has fared better than its British counterpart, which has experienced a number of closures in the North East and North West. They can negotiate annual pay awards with management, represent grievance cases, and explain and advise & nbsp; & nbsp; on complicated changes in employment or pension law. However, in my view, they must understand that a business has to be profitable to survive, that the world is always changing, so firms have to adapt to remain competitive, and finally that their role is to safeguard the long- term employment of their members. In February, the union demanded a pay rise of 3. We had no option but to accede, as the site was not prepared for a strike and it simply would have been too damaging. In late July, Len Mc. Cluskey, general secretary of Unite, telephoned the site personally and demanded the reinstatement of Stevie Deans – who had just been suspended following a discovery of thousands of Labour Party emails on our system – or he would “bring Grangemouth to a standstill”. Again, a strike would have been too damaging at that time. And then, in October, came the straw that broke the camel’s back. Unite declared a strike over the investigation of Stevie Deans but, critically and far more damaging, they refused to engage in discussions about the future of the site. The business had been unable to adapt to a world that had moved on and become more efficient and competitive, because the union had kept a stranglehold on the plant. Each operator on the Falkirk site now costs close to . This level of expense is simply unsustainable in our industry. It is not necessary, nor appropriate, to sow dissent and misrepresent employees or constantly to threaten industrial action. It is wrong for “brothers and sisters” letters (this is how missives from the union to members on site are addressed) to describe doubters or anyone who deigns to cross the union as scabs. It also has the hallmarks of bullying. Not only is it wrong but it is also intimidating, and designed to suppress alternative views – an attitude that runs absolutely counter to the values of society today, in which freedom of speech is cherished. She received rude anonymous phone calls, with the phone being slammed down. It upset many of us that a lady in our company, a mother of three, was unable to express her views and concerns freely. It played a part, ultimately, in our resolve not to accept a solution for the site that did not bring with it changes on many fronts, but most importantly, in attitude and working practices. Only three weeks ago, half a dozen friends and I were guided on rocky trails through the high Alps in Italy on mountain bikes. One participant, Tony Loftus, who had been the operations director for INEOS’s predecessor, Inspec, revealed in a discussion about the troubles at Grangemouth that his first job after a chemistry degree at Manchester University had been as a graduate trainee on the Grangemouth site in the early Seventies. He said, quite spontaneously: “When I was in Grangemouth, there were no problems, we didn’t have any strikes, and management did as they were told.” Little has changed since, and today the site struggles compared with its German counterparts. My first 1. 0 years were in Failsworth, a northern suburb of Manchester, close to Oldham. ![]() Questions and Answers from the Community. You type in your question in the search and hopefully it'll find it with an answer attached to it. Are national service programs seeking members with disabilities?Yes! AmeriCorps programs are committed to increasing the number of members with disabilities engaged. A 'mystery' medical package, a courier, a doctor, a world-famous rider and a ground-breaking cycling team. It's a story of many parts. As MPs again look at the. There should be a fix coming with the next patch. In truth, there has been quite a lot of bug fixes in general coming with the anniversary patch.most of which I don. I recall being able to count more than 1. I learnt to count. We lived in a small cul- de- sac called Boston Close, in what I remember as a very pleasant council house. It still exists today. I do recall my father telling me that when he was younger he had climbed every tree in Miles Platting, a neighbouring suburb where he was brought up. It was only many years later as a teenager that it dawned on me that there were no trees in Miles Platting. It is a far cry from the leafy suburbs of the Home Counties. Workers migrated from the fields and sought new employment and opportunity in the Industrial Revolution that began in the heart of Lancashire. Britain invented the concept of manufacturing. I can clearly see in my family tree many of my ancestors moving from the fields of Derbyshire to Manchester. All signed their name with a cross. I am a strong advocate for actually making things in a major economy like Britain. That is not to say I have anything against services. But I believe that a robust, balanced economy requires a healthy manufacturing sector. We spend a good portion of our income on goods of one sort or another, from washing machines to handbags (heaven knows why so many are required), and it is common sense that we are better off making some of these goods than importing them. A typical economy splits three ways: agriculture, manufacturing and services. Agriculture is normally quite small, at less than 1. Germany. Today, Britain’s manufacturing sector is only half of Germany’s. For me, it certainly is important. An over- dependence on services leads to a fragile economy. Germany emerged from the 2. Britain. Equally important is the geographic divide here. The Midlands and the North are much more heavily biased to manufacturing, and communities have suffered from high unemployment. London is clearly services- based, and very successful for it. But they are not the only game in town. We should take some lessons from Germany, where they have a strong attachment to their thriving manufacturing base and recognise its key role in a balanced economy. INEOS has several sites in Britain, but they are not as profitable as our plants in Germany, Belgium and, particularly, the US. Britain has expensive energy, skills are not at the levels of other countries, pensions are expensive, and unions can be difficult. Historically, government was not switched on to manufacturing in Britain. In contrast, the USA has excellent skills, most of our sites there are non- unionised, energy is a fraction of the cost in Britain, and they have an enormous market. Germany is simply good at manufacturing – as we used to be. The present Government is becoming more attuned to its importance in maintaining a healthy economy. We should never forget that the Brits invented manufacturing. By contrast, Siggi, the convenor in Germany I mentioned, is in the 2. He challenges, he tests, he shakes the tree and negotiates, but he always persuades INEOS to invest. A good union is good for employers – and for employees.
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