Please see below a letter I sent today to Mairi McAllan the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Just Transition calling for the government to intervene on the concerns over health and safety that have led to a walkout by workers at the petrochemical plant. Also please find below that the press release from Unite Union setting out the concerns of the workers.
Dear Cabinet Secretary,
I am writing to raise with you my urgent concerns at the walk out of workers at the Mossmorran Plant in Fife over health and safety concerns.
I have communicated with your predecessors in the past on issues at Mossmorran and my main concern has always been the safety of the plant.
Below is a copy of the press release issued by Unite which sets out the concerns and issues. I am sure you will appreciate the concern that such a statement will be for local people who live in the communities around the plant especially given the experiences of the recent past and the total fear that people were expressing. We have always been told the plant is safe but this latest development certainly puts that into question.
You will note that the union is calling on the Health and Safety Executive to immediately investigate due to the seriousness of the claims raised by the workforce. They say there have been various recorded incidents at the plant over safety, the risk of pollution and environmental damage.
Given the seriousness of the claims, I am asking that the government make contact with the company seeking a full explanation and also that you contact the Health and Safety Executive and ask for an immediate investigation into these claims.
I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible given the seriousness of this situation
Yours sincerely,
Alex
Unite Scotland Press Release
Immediate Release: 17 August 2023
Hundreds of Mossmorran refinery workers down tools over safety concerns as Unite calls on HSE intervention
Unite claims ExxonMobil and contractors failing in ‘legal duty’ to protect and pay workers
Unite the union can confirm today (17 August) that around 200 members have withdrawn their labour over health and safety concerns at ExxonMobil’s petrochemical plant in Mossmorran.
Unite can reveal that workers downed tools on Tuesday (15 August) over health and safety warning signals and procedures not being in full working operation across the plant and the workforce not being informed of this, or any procedures put in place to protect them.
The trade union has received reports from workers citing repeated examples over a year that alarm systems are not working in areas at the petrochemical plant and workers not being notified. This is legally required in the event of any leakages, blasts or exposure to hazardous materials and chemicals at the plant.
Unite’s members have accordingly withdrawn their labour under the terms of UK legislation, Employment Rights Act 1996 Section 44 and 100. The legislation states that workers have the ‘right’ to withdraw from, and to refuse to return to a workplace that is unsafe, without being subject to any detriment including the loss of wages. ExxonMobil and the contractors are to date, refusing to pay the workers following the withdrawal of labour under the legislation’s terms.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite will robustly defend the legal right of our members to withdraw their labour over health and safety concerns at ExxonMobil’s Mossmorran plant. It is completely unacceptable that the company and the various contractors on site are refusing to pay our members their wages. This is a legal duty and not open to interpretation. Our members will be receiving their union’s unflinching support.”
Unite’s members at ExxonMobil’s plant are employed on construction engineering maintenance contracts and they are split between different contractors at the plant: Altrad, Bilfinger, and Kaefer.
The trade union is further calling on the Health and Safety Executive to immediately investigate due to the seriousness of the claims raised by the workforce. There have been various recorded incidents at the plant over safety, the risk of pollution and environmental damage.
Bob MacGregor, Unite industrial officer, added: “Unite’s members working for Altrad, Bilfinger, and Kaefer at the Mossmorran plant are rightly furious at potentially being exposed to dangerous chemicals due to failings in the plant’s safety procedures.”
“To add insult to injury, ExxonMobil and the contractors are refusing to pay the wages of the workers following the withdrawal of labour on health and safety grounds. This is not an isolated incident, these safety breaches and failings have been ongoing for around a year and nothing to date has been resolved. That’s why Unite is calling for the Health and Safety Executive to urgently intervene due to the seriousness of the claims, and the chequered history of the plant.”
ENDS
