Power struggle as workers fight cuts

MASS JOB LOSS AT OIL REFINERY IN UK'S INDUSTRIAL HEARTLANDS

- By ROS WYNNE-JONES and MARYAM QAISER

THE banks of the Humber are lined with former industries that once brought jobs and wealth north and south of the tidal estuary.

Today, from the end of Hessle and Grimsby's proud trawler trade to the struggling steel industry, to recent job losses at a giant bioethanol plant, Humberside has become used to its challenges.

And now even the familiar steel towers of Lindsey Oil Refinery, visible for miles across the flat landscape of the east coast at North Killingholme, are in trouble.

The fate of the last British-owned oil refinery - and one of the last five left in the UK - hangs in the balance.

The refinery, which supports 420 directly employed workers, plus a further 500 contract jobs and thousands across its supply chain, was taken over by the Official Receiver in June after its owner, Prax Group, went into administration.

On September 30, 125 workers at the refinery were issued redundancy notices by insolvency firm FTI Consulting while the rest of the workforce could lose their jobs as soon as January 31.

Across the region, the sense of betrayal is palpable, and on Wednesday, more than 150 workers and their families gathered outside the oil refinery to demand jobs and production at the site are saved.

Lee, who has been at Lindsey for 20 years, will find out if his job is safe by the end of the year. "A lot of us are really worried, especially with it being around Christmas," says the 52-year-old, who works on imports and exports and is a senior Unite rep. "It's caused a lot of mental stress to many people.

"We make the aviation fuel that goes into the typhoon fighters and planes. It's a colossal loss for the country. We fuel Newcastle, East Midlands, Heathrow, Gatwick. They've said they're making another runway at Gatwick and Heathrow, but who is going to fuel them?"