http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/82664/Jobs-fury-We-have-a-right-to-work-in-our-own-country
Protesters at the Lindsey oil refinery in North Lincolnshire
Saturday January 31,2009
By Martin Evans
FURIOUS workers staged a series of wildcat strikes yesterday to protest at the growing number of British jobs being filled by foreigners.
Thousands downed tools at 17 sites across the country in scenes reminiscent of the dark days of the industrial unrest which blighted the 1970s and 1980s.
As tempers frayed on the picket lines at what was described as “the great betrayal of British workers”, mounted police, above, were drafted in to maintain order at the Lindsey oil refinery in Immingham, Lincolnshire.
There was also a large police presence at power plants and oil and gas refineries where pickets demanded Government action to protect British jobs. The angry protests were in response to the awarding of a major construction contract at the Lindsey refinery to an Italian firm employing only Italian and Portuguese workers.
 This victimisation of the British worker  |
Shop steward, Kenny Ward |
For the third day in a row, more than 1,000 demonstrators gathered outside the plant to express anger at the way British workers are being excluded from jobs in their own country.
The plant’s shop steward, Kenny Ward, told the crowds: “I’m a victim, you are a victim, there are thousands in this country who are victims of this discrimination, this victimisation of the British worker.”
And with Gordon 
With unemployment soaring and the economic crisis fuelling anger with the Government, the risk of widespread industrial action is becoming a reality.
It is feared it will lead to scenes similar to those witnessed in France on Thursday when more than two million workers took to the streets on what was dubbed “Black Thursday”.
Among the larger sites to be hit by yesterday’s wildcat strikes were the Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland, the Aberthaw power station near Barry in South Wales, Wilton refinery on Teesside, Kilroot power station in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland, the Milford Haven gas terminal in Wales and the Fiddlers Ferry power station in Cheshire.
Workers also walked out at a string of smaller plants and union leaders warned of more industrial action to come next week.
The mood among those on the picket lines was summed up by engineer Andy Summers, 60, at the Aberthaw strike.
Mr Summers, of Barry, South Wales, said: “I started working in the power station at Grangemouth in Glasgow when I was 15 and I’ve worked in engineering all my life. I’ve got two children and three grandchildren who rely on me for life’s little luxuries.
“What does the future hold for me or them if there are no jobs for the next generation? People like us have travelled across Britain on contract jobs. But now we can’t get work because of the influx of European labour.”
Unite union regional officer Bernard McAuley addressed the men at Immingham from a flat-back truck.
He said: “There is sufficient unemployed skilled labour wanting the right to work on that site and they are demanding the right to work on that site.
“Our general secretary and the GMB have called on the Prime Minister to call an urgent meeting with the heads of the engineering and construction industry.
“We want fairness. We want our members to have the opportunity to be employed, not just on this job but on all jobs around the United Kingdom.”
The decision of the Total refinery in Lincolnshire to award a £20million contract to Italy’s IREM company ahead of two British firms was described by Labour MP Shona McIsaac as being like a “red rag to a bull” to local unemployed people.
Around 100 Italian and Portuguese workers are at the site with an estimated 300 more expected to join them next month. They are being housed in large grey barges moored at Grimsby docks. Last night there were accusations that the Italian firm had told unions they would not hire British workers under any circumstances.
Labour MP Nigel Griffiths, a former construction minister, demanded an immediate inquiry to ascertain whether IREM had broken the law.
Bobby Buirds, a regional officer for Unite in Scotland, said: “The argument is not against foreign workers, it’s against foreign companies discriminating against British labour. It is a fight for the right to work in our own country. It is not a racist argument at all.”
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