This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/wales/8057286.stm
The article has changed 11 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Walk out after 'local labour' row | Walk out after 'local labour' row |
(40 minutes later) | |
Contract workers at a LNG site and power station have walked out on unofficial strike in a dispute over the hiring of local labour. | |
The GMB union said the dispute started with 50 laggers at South Hook liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire. | |
Laggers and thermal insulation engineers also walked out at Aberthaw power station in the Vale of Glamorgan. | Laggers and thermal insulation engineers also walked out at Aberthaw power station in the Vale of Glamorgan. |
RNE Npower said some contractors had walked out but the site was operating. | |
It is believed the strikers complained an agreement by contractors to offer jobs to local labour had been broken. | It is believed the strikers complained an agreement by contractors to offer jobs to local labour had been broken. |
GMB officials said the dispute is believed to arise from a contractor Hertel UK refusing to meet a standard agreement to offer local workers priority in stage two lagging work. | |
Union sources said the industrial action could spread to other sites across the UK unless the dispute was resolved quickly. | |
No-one was available for comment at Hertel UK. | |
A spokesperson for RWE Npower says some contractors have walked off site at Aberthaw power station but they have not had any formal notification about their reasons. | |
All RWE Npower employers are at work and the site is operating. | |
Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB, said his union was making urgent inquiries into the cause of the dispute. | Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB, said his union was making urgent inquiries into the cause of the dispute. |
He said: "We understand that an agreement to give work on these large projects to local labour has been breached." | He said: "We understand that an agreement to give work on these large projects to local labour has been breached." |
Some workers had also apparently walked out at Dragon LNG site in Pembrokeshire. | |
A spokeswoman for Dragon LNG said some workers had left the site in support of industrial action elsewhere, but it was not a mass exodus and there was no demonstration. | A spokeswoman for Dragon LNG said some workers had left the site in support of industrial action elsewhere, but it was not a mass exodus and there was no demonstration. |
Similar action took place at the same sites in January in support of staff at the Lindsey refinery in north Lincolnshire over a £200m construction contract being given to an Italian firm. | Similar action took place at the same sites in January in support of staff at the Lindsey refinery in north Lincolnshire over a £200m construction contract being given to an Italian firm. |