HUNDREDS of trade unionists marched down Edinburgh’s historic Royal Mile to the doors of Holyrood today in their fight to save Scotland’s only oil refinery from the axe.
Led by a brass band, Grangemouth workers were joined by Unite activists from across Scotland and those at refineries around Britain as they demanded action to save more than 400 jobs at the site and nearly 3,000 jobs in the supply chain, put in jeopardy by a decision from energy company Petroineos to close the plant by summer 2025.
Addressing the rally outside Holyrood, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “What is happening at Grangemouth is act of industrial vandalism.
“A grotesque spectacle of corporate decapitation where a world superpower and a British billionaire who buys a football club as a hobby are allowed to throw these workers on the scrapheap — we say No!”
Adding the voice of allied Scottish trade unionism to the campaign, STUC general secretary Roz Foyer told the rally: “I’ve got something to say, and I hope the politicians are listening.
“If they can’t keep Grangemouth open, then there is no such thing as a just transition for the UK.”
Paying tribute to shop stewards at the site, she added: “You have come up with a plan, you are the people with the expertise, you know what your refinery is capable of, you know your industry and you can write the future of that industry and it’s time the people in here [Holyrood] started to listen to your voices.”
One of those Unite reps at Grangemouth, Chris Hamilton, warned that the industry was headed for a “cliff-edge transition.”
He said: “It’s the oil and gas workers of today who can go on to be the green energy workers of tomorrow — that’s why these workers and these jobs need protecting.
“It appears that this is a concept that [Energy Secretary] Ed Miliband has so far failed to grasp.
“Both governments have made interventions at the site before, [to] say this is a commercial decision and there’s nothing that any government can do just doesn’t wash.
“A new government in Westminster was a chance to reset and regroup on this issue, but the reality is we aren't any further forward than where we were under the last government.
“Promises of jobs tomorrow while the jobs of today are lost won’t help any of us pay the bills.”
The Scottish government has been contacted for comment.
