Plan drafted in contract job row

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Proposals have been drafted in a bid to resolve a row over contract labour which has led to a series of unofficial strikes at oil and gas plants.

The GMB union's general secretary said the plan would be put to workers at the South Hook natural gas refinery in Pembrokeshire on Thursday.

The action began there after staff said an agreement to offer jobs to local workers had been broken.

Contracting firm Hertel said it had been unable to source skilled people.

Workers at other sites around England and Wales have staged sympathy strikes.

'Framework reached'

The action was prompted by complaints from staff at the South Hook site who said contracting firm Hertel UK had broken an agreement to offer jobs to local workers when it hired a number of Polish workers.

Union officials said that during talks with the employer on Wednesday they had won assurances on who could apply for jobs.

Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB union, said: "After lengthy negotiations between the company and GMB, a framework has been reached which will fully restore the written agreement on the site regarding the use of local labour.

We understand people's concerns and we have engaged in detailed discussions with trade union national officials and local representatives David Fitzsimons Hertel

"This framework agreement will be put to a mass meeting of GMB members tomorrow at the South Hook site with a strong recommendation to accept and to return to normal working."

An official for the Unite union, Alan Card, said it had been agreed that all EU and UK workers should be able to apply for jobs within the plant.

Hertel had earlier said it had been unable to source skilled people for the start of the project and had subcontracted the works to a third party.

Managing director David Fitzsimons said: "As a result, we subcontracted the works to a third party which also employs non-UK labour and was also engaged on phase one of this project in 2008."

He added: "I regret that this situation has escalated. We understand people's concerns and we have engaged in detailed discussions with trade union national officials and local representatives."

The strikes brought disruption to a number of other sites as thousands of workers joined in with the unofficial strikes which began on Tuesday.

Workers at the Dragon LNG plant in Milford Haven and 250 workers at the Aberthaw Power Station in the Vale of Glamorgan took part in the action for a second day.

More than 2,000 workers at the ConocoPhillips and Lindsey oil refineries in North Lincolnshire and others at Fiddlers Ferry power plant in Warrington, Cheshire, also staged strikes.

At least 100 engineering workers walked out at Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottinghamshire.

Similar walkouts took place in January after a Lincolnshire refinery gave a £200m contract to an Italian firm.