Coryton staff demonstrate outside refinery

5:50pm Monday 11th June 2012 in Basildon By Gina Marden

Coryton staff demonstrate outside refinery Coryton staff demonstrate outside refinery

Campaigners trying to save jobs at Coryton oil refinery have staged a protest amid warnings that its closure could see more than £100 million drained from the economy.

More than 100 people demonstrated outside the Coryton refinery in Stanford-le-Hope, where almost 1,000 workers face losing their jobs.

Unite called on ministers to follow the example of the French government and give state aid to keep Coryton running until a buyer can be found.

Thurrock council has commissioned an economic impact assessment on the closure or change of use of the site, which found it would cost £30 million in wages, £26 million in contractor costs, £6 million in locally sourced materials, £40 million spent on chemicals and utilities, and £5 million in business rates.

Unite assistant general secretary Tony Burke said: "The economic impact and human cost of Coryton's closure will be massive. The Government cannot continue to sit on its hands and allow livelihoods to be destroyed.

"Over £100 million could be drained from the local and national economy, as well as the UK's refining capacity being undermined. Today's protest shows that the workers, who have kept the site running, feel let down and angry by the Government's failure to intervene."

Local Labour MEP Richard Howitt said: "The Government accepts that the Thames Gateway is nationally important for economic regeneration, so must not stand by while one of its most important businesses in one of the most crucial areas goes under.

"Government representatives repeatedly told us that best efforts were being made to find a new buyer, but today's protest shows that today no one believes they were telling the truth."

Comments (12)

8:51am Mon 11 Jun 12

r6keith says...

Its very sad that anybody should loose their job. But it has always made me wonder not just in this case what possible benefit a strike/walkout protest will achieve when the company the protest is against already in the mire. Would not everybody pulling together in a positive direction make things seem better to prospective buyer or reciever if involved ?
Its very sad that anybody should loose their job. But it has always made me wonder not just in this case what possible benefit a strike/walkout protest will achieve when the company the protest is against already in the mire. Would not everybody pulling together in a positive direction make things seem better to prospective buyer or reciever if involved ? r6keith

12:02pm Mon 11 Jun 12

quiksilver100 says...

You cannot for anyone to bye the refinery. Surely walking out just puts potential buyers off? Surely better to work, no use protesting against a bust company?
You cannot for anyone to bye the refinery. Surely walking out just puts potential buyers off? Surely better to work, no use protesting against a bust company? quiksilver100

12:42pm Mon 11 Jun 12

The Cater Wood Creeper says...

no use protesting against a bust company?


didn't do the ex Visteon workers any harm, they all secured a very nice payout for siting outside the old radiator plant for a few weeks instead of just accepting the 'we've gone into administration so there's no money for you' story they were given by Stumpy and his mates
[quote]no use protesting against a bust company? [/quote] didn't do the ex Visteon workers any harm, they all secured a very nice payout for siting outside the old radiator plant for a few weeks instead of just accepting the 'we've gone into administration so there's no money for you' story they were given by Stumpy and his mates The Cater Wood Creeper

1:11pm Mon 11 Jun 12

quiksilver100 says...

The Cater Wood Creeper wrote:
no use protesting against a bust company?
didn't do the ex Visteon workers any harm, they all secured a very nice payout for siting outside the old radiator plant for a few weeks instead of just accepting the 'we've gone into administration so there's no money for you' story they were given by Stumpy and his mates
Was that not to do with Ford honouring their pensions?
[quote][p][bold]The Cater Wood Creeper[/bold] wrote: [quote]no use protesting against a bust company? [/quote] didn't do the ex Visteon workers any harm, they all secured a very nice payout for siting outside the old radiator plant for a few weeks instead of just accepting the 'we've gone into administration so there's no money for you' story they were given by Stumpy and his mates[/p][/quote]Was that not to do with Ford honouring their pensions? quiksilver100

1:21pm Mon 11 Jun 12

The Cater Wood Creeper says...

quiksilver100 wrote:
The Cater Wood Creeper wrote:
no use protesting against a bust company?
didn't do the ex Visteon workers any harm, they all secured a very nice payout for siting outside the old radiator plant for a few weeks instead of just accepting the 'we've gone into administration so there's no money for you' story they were given by Stumpy and his mates
Was that not to do with Ford honouring their pensions?
it was more to do withthem honouring their promise of 'mirror term for Ford Workers' and coming up with a redundancy package that would have been dished out if they were still in charge of the plant. The pensions issue is still being fought by VPAG (Visteon Pensioners Action Group)
[quote][p][bold]quiksilver100[/bold] wrote: [quote][p][bold]The Cater Wood Creeper[/bold] wrote: [quote]no use protesting against a bust company? [/quote] didn't do the ex Visteon workers any harm, they all secured a very nice payout for siting outside the old radiator plant for a few weeks instead of just accepting the 'we've gone into administration so there's no money for you' story they were given by Stumpy and his mates[/p][/quote]Was that not to do with Ford honouring their pensions?[/p][/quote]it was more to do withthem honouring their promise of 'mirror term for Ford Workers' and coming up with a redundancy package that would have been dished out if they were still in charge of the plant. The pensions issue is still being fought by VPAG (Visteon Pensioners Action Group) The Cater Wood Creeper

8:22pm Mon 11 Jun 12

bumble 46 says...

It is sad that the Corytonrefinery is about to close but why all the fuss. I don't remember anything being said when Shell next door shut with hundreds losing their jobs, also nothing said when Bata closed down with hundreds losing their jobs. or when T.B.M closed down again probably between a 1000 & 1500 losing their jobs but biggest of all when Fords closed down there were probably in excess of 2000 from this area lost there jobs
so i am afraid you are not the first or last to have to endure this situation it is something that unfortunately has happened before and will happen again.
It is sad that the Corytonrefinery is about to close but why all the fuss. I don't remember anything being said when Shell next door shut with hundreds losing their jobs, also nothing said when Bata closed down with hundreds losing their jobs. or when T.B.M closed down again probably between a 1000 & 1500 losing their jobs but biggest of all when Fords closed down there were probably in excess of 2000 from this area lost there jobs so i am afraid you are not the first or last to have to endure this situation it is something that unfortunately has happened before and will happen again. bumble 46

10:36pm Mon 11 Jun 12

streetboy75 says...

this one again, sorry but many other companies have gone over the last 3 years, some had thousands of staff that lost there jobs, also when the story forst come to light it was 600 jobs, couple of weeks ago it was 800 and today its now 1000 were are the extras coming from now?????
sorry but this is just making a loss daily close it now try paying off staff and let them start looking for jobs, striking outside says they dont need the money anyway and cant see that helping any potential buyer with staff walking out on top of all the losses.
this one again, sorry but many other companies have gone over the last 3 years, some had thousands of staff that lost there jobs, also when the story forst come to light it was 600 jobs, couple of weeks ago it was 800 and today its now 1000 were are the extras coming from now????? sorry but this is just making a loss daily close it now try paying off staff and let them start looking for jobs, striking outside says they dont need the money anyway and cant see that helping any potential buyer with staff walking out on top of all the losses. streetboy75

12:56am Tue 12 Jun 12

Trainman says...

WHY does ANY management, of ANY company actually NEED such a high salary for doing SFA, while the TRUE workers have to live on a mere Pittance of a wage????????????????
????????????????????
???

DO Management pay MORE for their groceries, because they are on a Far more superior salary compared to REAL workers?
WHY does ANY management, of ANY company actually NEED such a high salary for doing SFA, while the TRUE workers have to live on a mere Pittance of a wage???????????????? ???????????????????? ??? DO Management pay MORE for their groceries, because they are on a Far more superior salary compared to REAL workers? Trainman

1:22am Tue 12 Jun 12

Chris Flunk says...

Trainman wrote:
WHY does ANY management, of ANY company actually NEED such a high salary for doing SFA, while the TRUE workers have to live on a mere Pittance of a wage????????????????

????????????????????

???

DO Management pay MORE for their groceries, because they are on a Far more superior salary compared to REAL workers?
Perhaps if you were paid more it would provide for the badly needed repairs to your keyboard. I'd be happy to chip in to fix those sticking question mark and shift keys.
[quote][p][bold]Trainman[/bold] wrote: WHY does ANY management, of ANY company actually NEED such a high salary for doing SFA, while the TRUE workers have to live on a mere Pittance of a wage???????????????? ???????????????????? ??? DO Management pay MORE for their groceries, because they are on a Far more superior salary compared to REAL workers?[/p][/quote]Perhaps if you were paid more it would provide for the badly needed repairs to your keyboard. I'd be happy to chip in to fix those sticking question mark and shift keys. Chris Flunk

8:12am Tue 12 Jun 12

ebagumtrebor says...

If it's a profitable going concern, instead of striking or protesting, why don't the management and the workforce offer to buy it. I'm sure they could do a deal with the administrators. If it's that profitable, surely banks would see this as an opportunity to invest in a successful business. I note that Comrade Kent is ranting about the Tories bailing out their banker friends. I think he's actually forgotten who bailed out the banks.
If it's a profitable going concern, instead of striking or protesting, why don't the management and the workforce offer to buy it. I'm sure they could do a deal with the administrators. If it's that profitable, surely banks would see this as an opportunity to invest in a successful business. I note that Comrade Kent is ranting about the Tories bailing out their banker friends. I think he's actually forgotten who bailed out the banks. ebagumtrebor

5:06pm Wed 13 Jun 12

redundantworker says...

ebagumtrebor wrote:
If it's a profitable going concern, instead of striking or protesting, why don't the management and the workforce offer to buy it. I'm sure they could do a deal with the administrators. If it's that profitable, surely banks would see this as an opportunity to invest in a successful business. I note that Comrade Kent is ranting about the Tories bailing out their banker friends. I think he's actually forgotten who bailed out the banks.
because you need loads of money .it costs a fortune to run but also can make a fortune.
last month it made 40million profit .but if it dont run you can lose 1million per day. its the greedy bankers that pulled the plug
[quote][p][bold]ebagumtrebor[/bold] wrote: If it's a profitable going concern, instead of striking or protesting, why don't the management and the workforce offer to buy it. I'm sure they could do a deal with the administrators. If it's that profitable, surely banks would see this as an opportunity to invest in a successful business. I note that Comrade Kent is ranting about the Tories bailing out their banker friends. I think he's actually forgotten who bailed out the banks.[/p][/quote]because you need loads of money .it costs a fortune to run but also can make a fortune. last month it made 40million profit .but if it dont run you can lose 1million per day. its the greedy bankers that pulled the plug redundantworker

8:04am Thu 14 Jun 12

ebagumtrebor says...

I'm sorry redundantworker but if a business employing 800 people can turn a £40 million a month profit and the banks won't back it then I can only assume that they know something the rest of us don't. Why would a greedy bank not back a business that is or can make half a billion a year profit.
I'm sorry redundantworker but if a business employing 800 people can turn a £40 million a month profit and the banks won't back it then I can only assume that they know something the rest of us don't. Why would a greedy bank not back a business that is or can make half a billion a year profit. ebagumtrebor

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