Scotland’s Finance Minister John Swinney and the UK Government’s Scottish Secretary, Alistair Carmichael are today holding more talks with trade unions and management at the Ineos-owned petro-chemical refinery at Grangemouth, near Edinburgh.
Both the Scottish and UK governments are continuing to scour global business and commercial contacts in the hope of identifying a potential buyer for the plant should Ineos decide to close it permanently.
Both governments regard Grangemouth as ‘too big to close’ because of its significant contribution to GDP
Grangemouth remains closed again today, but after submitting revised terms to Ineos, Len McCluskey, leader of the Unite trade union said he was ‘optimistic’ that the plant would open again.
He added: “We have today tabled revised terms on pay and pensions to Ineos. They will now take these proposals back to their partners and stakeholders to consider.”
All 800 employees at Grangemouth were told they would lose their jobs when Ineos announced the closure on Wednesday. Workers had rejected proposals by the firm to end their final salary pension scheme and cut shift allowances.
Downing Street said today that Prime Minister David Cameron is “keen” that discussions continue between Unite and the company.
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