Oil refinery strikers reach deal
Friday, 26 June 2009 12:00 AM
By Liz Stephens
A deal has been struck to end the bitter jobs dispute at the Lindsey oil refinery, unions say.
The agreement follows talks between union leaders and employers of contract staff at the North Lincolnshire site.
Unions said the deal involved the reinstatement of 647 workers sacked for taking wildcat strike action. It will be put to the workers on Monday.
Earlier in the week, the dispute sparked sympathy walkouts involving thousands of contract workers at sites from Scotland to south Wales, including 900 men at the Sellafield nuclear complex in Cumbria.
Les Bayliss, of the Unite union, said "Following hours of detailed negotiations we now have proposals for a return to work".
"The employers have agreed to reinstate the sacked workers but the details have to be put to the workforce first", he added.
Total, the French owner of Lindsey, was involved in the talks after previously refusing to negotiate until strikers returned to work.
The sacked Lindsey workers had been planning to stage a demonstration outside the Paris headquarters of Total next week if a deal was not reached.
Total fears the dispute has set the £200 million project back by months and had warned earlier that further trouble could jeopardise the entire project.
It is yet to comment on the outcome of the talks.
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