BRITISH JOBS FOR BRITISH WORKERS
Below is a copy of an article from today's Telegraph:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/4560267/Foreign-worker-row-reignited-by-claims-of-Polish-men-given-jobs-barred-to-Brits.html
Foreign worker row reignited by claims of Polish men given jobs barred
to Brits
A new foreign workers scandal has erupted after it emerged another house boat is being moored in Britain to provide accomodation for staff from abroad who are accused of taking local jobs.
The converted barge is being brought into Kent where a new gas-fired plant is being built at the E.ON power station on the Isle of Grain.
Furious local workers say the increasing majority of jobs are being given to Polish, Lithuanian and Portuguese men, who they say will be housed on the boat.
Police are preparing for potential trouble at the site on Wednesday when trade union Unite is due to stage a demonstration there.
It follows the problems elsewhere in the country last week when 700 workers went on strike at the Lindsey oil refinery near Grimsby, after contractors brought in non-British labour and housed some of them on a converted prison ship.
Some of the Italian workers living on that ship claimed they could not leave it without being attacked by angry locals.
A further 3,000 Britons walked out in sympathy at 14 refineries and power stations.
French engineering firm Alstom, who have been at the centre of the row over foreign labour, are the lead contractor on the Kent power station, which involves 15 sub-contractors including Polish companies Remak and ZRE.
Alstom insist they have given British firms and workers a fair opportunity to bid for the contracts and employ mainly British people.
But the unions and local people dispute that.
A spokesman for Unite said: "We know of at least two sub-contractors who are not allowing UK workers to apply for jobs at Grain Power
Station.
"We're not saying foreign workers are taking all of the jobs but there is clear evidence that UK-based labour are being blocked from even trying to get work there. That is why we are staging our demonstration."
Kyle Upton, 20, a labourer who has lived on the Isle of Grain all his life, said: "I was earning really good money with an American steel company on another project involving gas tanks but that finished so I decided to try and get a job at the power station.
"I contacted Alstom about work and was told there was none available, the positions were all taken.
"But then I found out some Polish labourers who had been working with me on the American project had been given jobs at the power station."
A spokeswoman for Alstom vigorously defended the claims.
She said during the peak of the 30-month construction phase of the gas-fired power station up to 2,000 people will be working there, and she said two thirds of them will be British.
She said: "We do not and will not discriminate against British workers. We are employing UK sub-contractors and non-UK sub contractors on site at present employing both UK and non-UK labour.
"Today we have around 15 sub contractors working at Grain, the overwhelming majority are British, only two being non-UK companies.
"We always give British firms and workers an equal chance to bid for work on the project."
Asked if she knew about Unite's claims that the two Polish sub-contractors were not allowing UK workers to apply for jobs, she added: "I am not aware of that."
Meanwhile, Alstom has applied to Medway Council for planning permission to moor an accomodation barge at Damhead Creek, near Grain Power Station, between now and November 2010.
Alstom's spokeswoman said: "This is not only to house foreign workers, this is a contingency plan to provide accomodation for anyone of the workers who may need it.
"The Isle of Grain is a remote and isolated location so accomodation is clearly an issue."
The boat will house up to 200 workers but she did not specify when it will be moored there.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/4560267/Foreign-worker-row-reignited-by-claims-of-Polish-men-given-jobs-barred-to-Brits.html
Foreign worker row reignited by claims of Polish men given jobs barred
to Brits
A new foreign workers scandal has erupted after it emerged another house boat is being moored in Britain to provide accomodation for staff from abroad who are accused of taking local jobs.
The converted barge is being brought into Kent where a new gas-fired plant is being built at the E.ON power station on the Isle of Grain.
Furious local workers say the increasing majority of jobs are being given to Polish, Lithuanian and Portuguese men, who they say will be housed on the boat.
Police are preparing for potential trouble at the site on Wednesday when trade union Unite is due to stage a demonstration there.
It follows the problems elsewhere in the country last week when 700 workers went on strike at the Lindsey oil refinery near Grimsby, after contractors brought in non-British labour and housed some of them on a converted prison ship.
Some of the Italian workers living on that ship claimed they could not leave it without being attacked by angry locals.
A further 3,000 Britons walked out in sympathy at 14 refineries and power stations.
French engineering firm Alstom, who have been at the centre of the row over foreign labour, are the lead contractor on the Kent power station, which involves 15 sub-contractors including Polish companies Remak and ZRE.
Alstom insist they have given British firms and workers a fair opportunity to bid for the contracts and employ mainly British people.
But the unions and local people dispute that.
A spokesman for Unite said: "We know of at least two sub-contractors who are not allowing UK workers to apply for jobs at Grain Power
Station.
"We're not saying foreign workers are taking all of the jobs but there is clear evidence that UK-based labour are being blocked from even trying to get work there. That is why we are staging our demonstration."
Kyle Upton, 20, a labourer who has lived on the Isle of Grain all his life, said: "I was earning really good money with an American steel company on another project involving gas tanks but that finished so I decided to try and get a job at the power station.
"I contacted Alstom about work and was told there was none available, the positions were all taken.
"But then I found out some Polish labourers who had been working with me on the American project had been given jobs at the power station."
A spokeswoman for Alstom vigorously defended the claims.
She said during the peak of the 30-month construction phase of the gas-fired power station up to 2,000 people will be working there, and she said two thirds of them will be British.
She said: "We do not and will not discriminate against British workers. We are employing UK sub-contractors and non-UK sub contractors on site at present employing both UK and non-UK labour.
"Today we have around 15 sub contractors working at Grain, the overwhelming majority are British, only two being non-UK companies.
"We always give British firms and workers an equal chance to bid for work on the project."
Asked if she knew about Unite's claims that the two Polish sub-contractors were not allowing UK workers to apply for jobs, she added: "I am not aware of that."
Meanwhile, Alstom has applied to Medway Council for planning permission to moor an accomodation barge at Damhead Creek, near Grain Power Station, between now and November 2010.
Alstom's spokeswoman said: "This is not only to house foreign workers, this is a contingency plan to provide accomodation for anyone of the workers who may need it.
"The Isle of Grain is a remote and isolated location so accomodation is clearly an issue."
The boat will house up to 200 workers but she did not specify when it will be moored there.
posted by erc @ 1:25 am
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