Union says political leaders who have abandoned Scottish workers and communities will face ‘electoral wrath’
Unite the union has today (29 April) said Scottish Labour and the SNP will face the ‘electoral wrath’ of voters due to the failure to protect jobs as oil refining in Scotland ends and redundancies begin at Grangemouth.
The union issued its stark electoral warning to political parties in the aftermath of Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar’s address to the STUC Annual Congress in Dundee. First minister John Swinney spoke to union delegates gathered at the Caird Hall yesterday (Monday).
Unite highlighted that political leaders have ‘utterly failed’ the workers and the Grangemouth community.
The union added that political leaders including the prime minister Keir Starmer and first minister John Swinney have failed to grasp the magnitude of the ‘industrial vandalism’ about to be unleashed on the nation’s industrial heartland.
The union warned that the ‘failure of politicians to save jobs at Grangemouth will fuel the flames of anger against mainstream parties.’
Sharon Graham Unite general secretary said: “The UK and Scottish governments have utterly failed to protect refinery jobs at Grangemouth and thousands face losing their jobs as oil refining in Scotland ends.
 
“Highly-skilled, well-paid workers, are being thrown on an industrial scrapheap. Starmer and Swinney have allowed one of the worst self-inflicted blows to happen in generations and they will face the electoral consequences.”
 
“The job cuts are entirely unnecessary. There are projects like SAF production which can be accelerated to protect jobs and those opportunities must not be lost. It would pave the way for Grangemouth to become a world leader in green aviation.” 
 
“For all the talk, nothing has been done and both governments have effectively allowed China to shutdown Scotland’s capacity to refine fuel, as it hopes to use Grangemouth as an import hub. Workers will not forget or forgive.”
An impact assessment by PWC found that the Grangemouth refinery makes an economic contribution of £403.6m per annum, and almost 3,000 workers are reliant on the refinery’s operations.
In total there are nine possible projects identified by Project Willow for the site. However, under PetroIneos' proposals, most of these would not start for several years after the site had closed and jobs had been lost.
In contrast, Unite believes that many of the identified projects could be fast tracked and implemented now. There could be a rapid move to convert the existing refinery to Sustainable Aviation Fuel production. This includes starting with co-processing (mixing SAF and petroleum). 
Derek Thomson Unite Scottish secretary said: “The first wave of redundancies are taking place at Grangemouth and with it the historic end of oil refining in Scotland.
 
”John Swinney and Anas Sarwar will face the wrath of voters for their broken promises to the workers and the people of Grangemouth. Anas Sarwar pledged hundreds of millions to save the refinery and to fund a transition to renewable industries under a Labour government."
 
"Instead, not one job will be saved at the refinery, not one job will be created for years by Project Willow, and not one penny of the £200m National Wealth Fund can be unlocked without private investment.”
 
ENDS 
Notes to Editor 
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Unite Scotland is the country’s biggest and most diverse trade union with around 150,000 members. The union is led in Scotland by Derek Thomson.