Insolvency firm FTI making redundancies despite bids to take over full refinery
The insolvency firm running Lindsey oil refinery has announced redundancies even though there are at least two bids to buy and operate the site as a going concern keeping a full workforce.
Unite said the government is responsible for the redundancies going ahead as it could provide support to ensure the refinery is kept intact and operational.
Lindsey supports 420 directly employed workers plus a further 500 contract jobs and potentially thousands in the supply chain.
The union believes that the insolvency firm FTI’s preferred bidder wishes to mothball the site and use it as a storage terminal for oil tankers.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: 'The government has been tin eared to the plight of workers at the second oil refinery facing closure in less than a year. This makes a mockery of government promises to protect workers and its plan for net zero.
'The government had promised to ensure that job focused bids would be the priority at Lindsey, yet prior to bids even being considered, they are already issuing redundancy notices.
'Unless Labour start to back workers and British industry it will continue to haemorrhage support.'
Turning the refinery into a terminal is the easiest way to satisfy creditors but would gut jobs, harm the regional economy and compromise the UK’s ability to produce its own fuel.
The refinery’s biggest creditor is HMRC, alongside oil company Glencore. Both can wait for the more complicated but far less damaging process of maintaining the site as an oil refinery. This would particularly be the case with the correct government support.
Without the refinery, which supplied 25 per cent of the UK diesel market, the country is more reliant on imported fuel. This impacts the country’s energy security and leaves consumers exposed to price rises at the pump. Furthermore, a substantial amount of diesel is imported from Turkey and India and made from Russian crude.
Source: Unite
