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Grangemouth oil refinery strike talks to continue 'Disappointment' over Grangemouth refinery talks
(about 14 hours later)
Talks are due to resume at the Grangemouth oil refinery and petrochemical plant later in a bid to avert a 48-hour strike. The owners of the Grangemouth site have said they are "extremely disappointed" with a lack of progress in talks over a planned strike at the oil refinery.
Members of the Unite union are planning to walk out on Sunday in a row over the treatment of a union convener. Discussions involving Ineos and the Unite union broke up at 20:00 on Monday.
Talks at the Acas conciliation service between Unite and operators Ineos went on from 16:00 to 20:00 on Monday. They are due to resume on Tuesday afternoon. Representatives of both sides arrived to resume talks on Tuesday afternoon.
The union said it was approaching the resumption of talks at the conciliation service Acas "more in hope than any great expectation".
Members of the union are planning to walk out on Sunday in a row over the treatment of a union convener.
Staff at the plant began shutting down the facility on Monday.Staff at the plant began shutting down the facility on Monday.
Both Unite and Ineos have said that if the strike went ahead they would not want the flow of fuel from the refinery to be affected.
As he arrived for the talks on Monday afternoon Unite regional secretary Pat Rafferty said he was "optimistic" a solution could be agreed.
Ineos UK chief executive Gary Haywood said his priority was to ensure any strike did not affect the fuel supply to Scotland.
Contingency plans
The company had previously warned the threatened strike "could effectively shut much of Scotland".
But Mr Haywood said he did not know whether the talks would be able to stop the strike going ahead.
The company previously labelled the union action as "completely irresponsible" while the union accused Ineos of "gunboat irresponsible diplomacy".
It had been feared a strike at the refinery, which processes up to 210,000 barrels of oil per day, could potentially disrupt the flow of Brent crude from the North Sea.
The Scottish and UK governments have been drawing up contingency plans and had called for more talks to take place.
UK Energy Secretary Ed Davey said the talks were a "very welcome and encouraging step."
A spokeswoman for the Scottish government said contingency planning had been under way since the strike was announced.
Labour selection rowLabour selection row
The dispute centres on union convener Stephen Deans, who was involved in the row over the selection of a Labour candidate in Falkirk.The dispute centres on union convener Stephen Deans, who was involved in the row over the selection of a Labour candidate in Falkirk.
Labour cleared Unite after an investigation into allegations of rigging the selection of a party candidate - claims that led to a major row between the union and Ed Miliband.Labour cleared Unite after an investigation into allegations of rigging the selection of a party candidate - claims that led to a major row between the union and Ed Miliband.
Mr Deans, who is chairman of both Labour's local constituency party and Unite in Scotland, was suspended by Ineos but then reinstated.Mr Deans, who is chairman of both Labour's local constituency party and Unite in Scotland, was suspended by Ineos but then reinstated.
Ineos said an investigation by "a third party" into Mr Deans' conduct was due to be completed by 25 October.Ineos said an investigation by "a third party" into Mr Deans' conduct was due to be completed by 25 October.
It recently launched a survival plan for Grangemouth, warning the site would close by 2017 without investment and reduced costs. The company said the plant was losing £10m a month. The company criticised the inclusion of Mr Deans in the union team taking part in the Acas talks, calling it "completely inappropriate".
Calum MacLean, the chairman of Grangemouth Petrochemicals, is leading the employer's team at the talks.
He said: "We came to Acas in good faith and remain determined to resolve the issues facing us if at all possible.
"Unfortunately, Unite seems determined to insist on one rule for union officials and one rule for everyone else, which is completely unacceptable to the company.
"It also seems determined to ignore the fact that a strike could destroy Grangemouth and cause significant damage to the whole of Scotland."
Cold shutdown
Unite said the management side had imposed an adjournment on Monday's talks by leaving the meeting.
The union's Scottish secretary Pat Rafferty said: "We are very disappointed matters could not be progressed particularly as we presented a number of proposals in a bid to resolve this dispute and we were prepared to work throughout the night if need be.
"At this point in time, it seems Ineos management are more concerned about heading back to Grangemouth to continue with the cold shutdown of the site rather than working with us here at Acas to keep the site open.
"Further talks are scheduled for this afternoon, but we are approaching them more in hope than any great expectation."
Ineos recently launched a survival plan for Grangemouth, warning the site would close by 2017 without investment and reduced costs.
The company said the plant was losing £10m a month.
The Grangemouth refinery provides most of Scotland's fuel. It is owned jointly by Ineos and PetroChina.The Grangemouth refinery provides most of Scotland's fuel. It is owned jointly by Ineos and PetroChina.