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| Refinery strike talks break down | |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Negotiations aimed at resolving a dispute which could shut down Scotland's only oil refinery have broken up without agreement. | Negotiations aimed at resolving a dispute which could shut down Scotland's only oil refinery have broken up without agreement. |
| BBC Scotland understands operators Ineos and the Unite union have failed to agree an halt to an impending strike by workers at the Grangemouth plant. | BBC Scotland understands operators Ineos and the Unite union have failed to agree an halt to an impending strike by workers at the Grangemouth plant. |
| Up to 1,200 workers will walk out on Sunday and Monday over proposals to change pension scheme arrangements. | |
| The refinery processes 210,000 barrels of oil a day. | The refinery processes 210,000 barrels of oil a day. |
| Pension plans | |
| Officials from Unite have been in discussions for two days with bosses from Ineos at the conciliation service Acas. | |
| But the union announced on Wednesday evening that the talks had failed to find a breakthrough. | |
| The strike had been called in protest at plans by Ineos to close its finalsalary pension scheme to new workers and to make other changes to its pensions. | |
| A union spokesman said: "Unite's negotiators were disappointed with thecompany's refusal to withdraw controversial pensions plans and therefore the two-day strike will go ahead. | |
| "Although the strike has not been averted, Unite and the company have reached an agreement that will maintain the safety of the site and the integrity of the plant for the duration of the dispute. | |
| "Acas has advised both parties of their availability should assistance berequired." | |
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| Round-up of fuel availability across Scotland | |
| A statement from Acas said that although the two sides had not come to an agreement, time had been spent addressing the issue of safety and the integrity of the Grangemouth site during the strike. | |
| "An agreement covering these issues has been reached for the period of the dispute. | |
| "Acas has advised both the company and Unite that the opportunity to seek assistance of Acas to pursue an agreement has been offered." | |
| Ineos has already started shutting down Grangemouth and warned of fuel shortages from later this week if the strike went ahead. |