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| Fresh talks in foreign worker row | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Hundreds of workers are continuing unofficial strike action over the use of foreign contractors, as talks resumed to try to resolve the dispute. | |
| Protesters gathered outside Lindsey Oil Refinery - where the wave of strikes originated last week - saying they were awaiting the outcome of the Acas talks. | Protesters gathered outside Lindsey Oil Refinery - where the wave of strikes originated last week - saying they were awaiting the outcome of the Acas talks. |
| Contractors at Longannet power station in Fife have voted to continue their support and will meet again on Friday. | Contractors at Longannet power station in Fife have voted to continue their support and will meet again on Friday. |
| Up to 500 workers at Shell's Stanlow refinery, Cheshire, have walked out. | |
| No protests are being held at the site, and workers are believed to be expected back on Wednesday. | |
| Some workers are Drax Power Station, near Selby in North Yorkshire, have also continued to strike in support of the dispute, following a walk-out by 150 contractors there on Monday. | |
| Drax said the action was having no impact on power generation. | |
| About 500 protesting contractors at Grangemouth oil refinery in central Scotland returned to work on Tuesday. | |
| 'Not racist' | |
| Thousands of workers went on strike last week and on Monday in a series of unofficial walk-outs around the UK, to show solidarity with workers protesting at the use of Italian and Portuguese labour at the Lindsey refinery. | |
| Workers there were angry that a contract for work to expand the refinery was sub-contracted by Total's main contractor - engineering firm Jacobs - to an Italian company, IREM, which decided to use its own workforce. | |
| Total insists it is not discriminating against British workers. | Total insists it is not discriminating against British workers. |
| Speaking from the crowd of protesters at the Total-owned Lindsey refinery, in North Lincolnshire, strike committee member Phil Whitehurst said he and his colleagues were convinced of their case. | Speaking from the crowd of protesters at the Total-owned Lindsey refinery, in North Lincolnshire, strike committee member Phil Whitehurst said he and his colleagues were convinced of their case. |
| He said they had nothing against the Italian workers at the centre of the dispute. | He said they had nothing against the Italian workers at the centre of the dispute. |
| "People have said it's racist. It's not. We're not part of the BNP [British National Party]. I've shunned the BNP away from here. | "People have said it's racist. It's not. We're not part of the BNP [British National Party]. I've shunned the BNP away from here. |
| "It's about British workers getting access to a British construction site." | "It's about British workers getting access to a British construction site." |
| On Monday contractors at two UK nuclear plants - Sellafield and Heysham - joined the dispute with a "sympathy strike". | On Monday contractors at two UK nuclear plants - Sellafield and Heysham - joined the dispute with a "sympathy strike". |
| Workers at Grangemouth oil refinery, central Scotland, and power stations in Longannet, Warrington, and Staythorpe in Nottinghamshire were also among those to walk out. | |
| Talks have resumed at a hotel near Grimsby between the mediation service Acas, Total managers, the main contractor Jacobs, and union officials. The talks began in Scunthorpe on Monday. | |