Unions says UK workers 'excluded'
October 23, 2008
A protest is taking place at a new power station in Nottinghamshire over claims UK workers are being kept out of jobs there.
The Unite union has organised the demonstration outside Staythorpe Power Station near Newark, claiming contractors are using foreign labour.
The project could create more than 600 jobs for local people, Unite claimed.
But French builders Alstom insisted its contractors were actively looking to employ UK workers.
A meeting between the union and employers has been suspended after Alstom said it would not discuss the issue while the 50-strong demonstration continues.
Unite said the problem focused on two Spanish sub-contractors who have indicated they would not be employing local labour.
The union's joint general secretary, Derek Simpson, said before Thursday's protest: "The country is in the grip of a credit crunch and the construction industry is one of the worst-hit sectors.
"We know there are qualified people in the local area who are out of work and they are ready and willing to do the job."
He added that Alstom, and energy giant RWE, which will run the power station, should put pressure on sub-contractors to give UK workers a fair chance of employment on the project.
"The UK needs to upgrade and build new power stations and there are huge opportunities to create thousands of well paid and highly skilled jobs.
"It will be a disgrace if UK workers are shut out from building their own power stations," Mr Simpson said.
Equal rights
Alstom said a small number of its 14 sub-contractors were not from the UK and they employed a small number of UK and non-UK workers.
A spokesman said: "Their role is to secure the right balance of skills and expertise to deliver the work from both the UK and abroad.
"Their non-UK workers are sourced from within the EU."
He added the firm maintained a regular dialogue with all its sub-contractors to ensure all workers had an equal opportunity to gain employment on its sites.
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