Angry Coryton workers on the march for justice (From Echo)
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Angry Coryton workers on the march for justice
8:00am Tuesday 24th July 2012 in Basildon By Mat Abbott
Angry – Coryton oil refinery workers demonstrating outside the Vopak terminal
WORKERS from Coryton demanded a public inquiry into the sale of the oil refinery.
About 50 workers and trade unionists protested outside a building belonging to one of its new owners.
They gathered outside the Vopak terminal, in Oliver Road, Purfleet, on Saturday.
The protest came as Unite, the union representing Coryton workers, accused the Government of snubbing their requests for a taskforce to cope with the loss of £250million to the local economy when the refinery’s closes.
Unite and Coryton workers want questions answered about the sale of the refinery, which they say was completed “in secrecy” by the administrators.
There was a police presence at Saturday’s demonstration, the third to take place outside Vopak in recent months, after the most recent protest led to three arrests.
A cordon was set up to ensure protesters could not obstruct lorries going in and out.
Linda McCulloch, a Unite national officer who was at the demonstration, said the union was pleased with the turnout, despite expecting greater numbers.
She said: “It wasn’t our intention to disrupt fuel supplies. We want to demonstrate quietly and appeal for a public inquiry.”
Jason Williams, a production controller at the now closed refinery, who is waiting to hear whether he will be made redundant at the end of this month, said: “I’m a little bit disappointed with the turnout today.
“I think people were worried because there was a little bit of trouble last time, but it’s good people are still behind us and up for the fight. We just want to know the truth.
“I’m still working at the moment. “It’s frustrating in a way because you’re left hanging. It’s hard to know how to progress your future.”
The Corringham oil refinery, which supplies 20 per cent of fuel in London and the South East, will be shut over the next two months.
The site will be converted into an import terminal after the administrators, Price-Waterhouse Coopers, struck a deal to sell most of the assets.
The buyers, a consortium comprising oil giant Shell, Royal Vopak and Greenergy, will turn the refinery into an import and storage terminal for fuel.
Comments(2)
hasus12
says...
12:26pm Wed 25 Jul 12
From my research ENERGY FUND is privately held investment group created a world leading businessman with huge experience in Oil and Energy. When no one believed on the viability of direct gas pipeline from Russia to German, Mr Igor Yusufov bet his career on it, Chancellor Schroder is its Chairman and germany enjoys uninterrupted gas supplies and security at the inception of this mega project everyone familiar with the matter both in Russia & Germany were criticizing it as financially unsustainable. The same investor has saved 100s of the ailing German Naval construction.
Why are we in the UK not laying the red carpet for an investor who has the financial might, not only to save thousands of job and to create thousands more the refurbishment of our bankrupt Coryton Refinery?
Why cant our minister thing positively and creatively and grab the opportunity of a strategic alliance when the other side is generously giving us a hand in an environment where every job lost overwhelms the tax payers empty purse and energy diversification is key if our minister has any privileged information obliging to oppose Coryton substituency from their lifeline he should at least explain himself publicly in our democratic country rather than stalling his feet.
R85 says...
12:22pm Tue 24 Jul 12
s could do whatever the hell they want with it and nobody would have a legal right to say anything? Just because a company becomes huge I don’t see how it changes this? What does the reason for sale have to do with the workers? Why do they have a right to know?