Gordon Brown appeals for end to foreign workers dispute

PM says the firm at the centre of the row has promised that British workers will be free to apply if its Italian sub-contractor needs to hire any more workers

* Andrew Sparrow and agencies
* guardian.co.uk, Monday 2 February 2009 16.40 GMT



Protesters at the Lindsey oil refinery in North Lincolnshire. Photograph: Anna Gowthorpe/PA

Gordon Brown today claimed that he would uphold "a level playing field for British workers" as he appealed for an end to the dispute about the use of foreign employees on construction contracts.

The prime minister said that Total, the firm at the centre of the row, had promised that British workers would be free to apply if the Italian subcontractor it is using needed to hire any more workers and he predicted that other companies would make similar promises.

Further details of the government's position were given in an emergency statement from Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, in the Lords this afternoon.

The dispute has arisen because Total has awarded a contract for a construction project at the Lindsey oil refinery to the Italian-based IREM. IREM brought in around 400 of its own employees from abroad to do the work, a move allowed under the EU's posted workers directive provided that the foreign employees have the same rights as local workers.

Last night Total put out a statement saying: "It is legal for subcontractors to supply their own employees but, where vacancies are advertised, we will work with our subcontractors to ensure that British workers are considered in the same way as anyone else."

Today, at a news conference with the Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, Brown welcomed the Total statement and said that he expected other companies in a similar position to follow its lead.

"[Total] have said that British workers, where jobs are being advertised, will be free to apply and will be accepted on their merits. I believe that other companies throughout the country will make that absolutely clear as well," he said.

"When that becomes clear, then people will see that there's to be no discrimination in future against British workers, even if it's a foreign contractor working on a British contract."

Brown said that the unofficial strike action taking place was counterproductive.

"The government will continue to uphold employment safeguards that require a level playing field for British workers and where we find evidence that companies are denying British workers jobs by breaking these requirements, we will take action," he said.

Earlier Mandelson said that the two key accusations being made about Total were untrue and he defended the European Union rules that allowed foreigners to work on construction contracts in the UK.

The minister spoke out as David Cameron, the Conservative leader, accused Gordon Brown of contributing to the problem by raising unrealistic expectations with his promise of "British jobs for British workers".

In an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mandelson said that there were two allegations being made about the Total contract: that British workers had been excluded from the plant, and that the foreign workers were being underpaid. He said that both charges had been refuted.

Mandelson said that companies did have the right to subcontract work and that at Lindsey the contract had originally gone to a firm that would have employed mainly British workers. But that company could not meet the contract, which was why the work went to IREM.

"Not only are normal wages and conditions operating here for all works, but if vacancies at the plant are advertised the company have made it clear that British workers can apply," Mandelson said.

The business secretary was criticised at the weekend for saying that EU laws protected the rights of British workers to seek jobs on the continent. Mandelson conceded there were not many people from Teesside who took advantage of work opportunities across Europe, but said he was not suggesting Britons should "get on their bike" to look for work.

"No one is forcing anyone to travel. There are other jobs being created in the UK economy. What is at stake is the opportunity for the movement of people who if they wish can apply for jobs or follow their companies around the European Union," he said.

Mandelson also renewed his appeal for the strikers to call off their action.

In a separate interview, Cameron today reiterated his belief that Brown had been wrong to use the phrase "British jobs for British workers" accusing the prime minister of "mis-leadership".

He was questioned on GMTV about the posted workers directive and the way it allowed a foreign firm that won a UK contract to bring in workers from abroad. Asked whether this was right, Cameron said: "All jobs should be open to all, that is the key thing. If there is a firm that is disqualifying British workers from working then that wouldn't be right."

He added: "I think there is another lesson we have got to learn from this, which I said at the time: the prime minister was completely wrong to borrow that slogan off the British National party and talk about British jobs for British workers.

"It was something he couldn't deliver, so it wasn't leadership, it was mis-leadership.

"He should actually deeply regret that because I think that lies behind a lot of the anger that we are seeing at the moment."

A spokesman for the Department for Energy said today that it was not aware of the protests having any impact on gas, electricity or fuel supplies.

"Equally, National Grid advises that gas and electricity supplies should be adequate to meet demand even in the cold weather this coming week," the spokesman said. "As ever, we continue to monitor the situation carefully."

Officials said the unofficial strikes were by maintenance and construction contractors, not core permanent staff, so they expected little or no impact on operations.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009 ... on-strikes