Workers to strike over ‘Scrooge-like’ employer
STRIKE action is planned for Monday morning by maintenance workers at the Shell research centre at Ince.
They say their employer, Eurest Support Services – part of Compass – “tried to renege on a pay deal”.
The 17 staff are also worried about potential redundancies.
Shell sold the Stanlow refinery to Essar Energy last year but retained the neighbouring research centre that is understood to be on the market.The workers want Eurest to delay any redundancies until a deal goes through so they have the chance to transfer over.
Unite national officer, Jennie Formby, said: “The blame for strike action rests solely at the door of the company, which has acted totally irresponsibly in reneging on a pay deal – agreed nearly two years ago. Our members are not in dispute with Shell, the site owners, but with their Scrooge-like employer – Eurest Support Services.”
Unite shop steward, Dave Thomas, said: “We believe the site has new undisclosed owners, and if Eurest shed the incumbent workforce prematurely, then this will deny workers their potential right to employment with the new owners.
“The total lack of communication with the workers affected is totally unacceptable – they feel they have been left in the dark all along regarding the future of the site.”
The strike will take place from 7am-9am at the Shell Thornton Research Centre in December 17.
In a statement Eurest said: “We are aware of a planned strike by a small number of employees and we take such matters very seriously. Eurest Services has met with Unite to put forward a number of proposals for our rmployees who work at the site and we remain committed to having an open and constructive dialogue.
“It isn’t appropriate for us to comment on the future of the site but the welfare of our empoyees remains our priority and we will continue to work closely with all parties involved to find the best long-term solution.
“If the strike does go ahead, we will ensure thta it does not affect the level of service we provide to Shell.”
