Sarwar accused of ‘face-saving’ after ‘radio silence’ on Grangemouth closure
The Unite union attacked the Scottish Labour leader after he said the UK Government has not done enough for the workers at the oil refinery.
The Scottish Labour leader has been accused of conducting a “face-saving exercise” after he said not enough has been done to stop the closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery.
The Unite union said Anas Sarwar’s comments came after redundancy notices had already been served to workers.
Unite’s Scottish secretary, Derek Thomson, claimed there have been “radio silence” from Mr Sarwar on the closure of the refinery.
The Scottish Labour leader told BBC Scotland on Monday there has been “nowhere near enough progress” on supporting workers at the plant near Falkirk.
“Where we are right now is not good enough,” he said.
“We need to see more progress and we need to see a stronger response going into the future.”
Mr Sarwar said the UK Government is “looking robustly” at a future for the site, adding: “Where we are now, there has been some progress but nowhere near enough progress, and I keep pressing that case.”
Mr Thompson said the Scottish Labour leader’s comments have come too late.
He told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland radio programme on Tuesday: “We welcome the comments by Anas Sarwar that nowhere near enough progress has been done to support the refinery workers but the reality is these words have come far too late and it follows the redundancy notices being issued last week.
“It appears to me to be nothing more than a face-saving exercise by Anas because the elections are coming up and there has been radio silence by the leadership of the Scottish Labour Party so far.”
Earlier this month, redundancy letters were sent out to staff, with some 65 of around 500 jobs expected to be retained.
It was announced last year that the central Scotland facility would close and transition to become an import terminal, as Petroineos reported massive losses at the refinery.
A £1.5 million report into the feasibility of Grangemouth becoming a low-carbon energy hub is due to be published by the end of the month.
Mr Thompson said Labour could have “absolutely” done more to protect job losses at the site.
He called on every politician to step up and call for an immediate suspension of the closure plans.
The trade unionist also urged the Scottish Government to do more to help “devastated” workers.
He said First Minister John Swinney had been presented with a plan for the future of the refinery but that had been met with “radio silence”.
“We really need politicians now to get up, stand up and protect and save jobs in Scotland,” he said.
A spokesperson for Mr Sarwar said: “Mr Sarwar has been in regular contact with Unite, other trade unions and the UK and Scottish Governments to secure a future for the workers at Grangemouth.
“For five years, the SNP Scottish government and the Tory government took no action and made no plans despite knowing that the plant was scheduled to close.
“That’s why action is being taken now to attract investment into the area, secure 18 months of full pay for workers facing job losses and to attract the investment needed to secure a long-term future at the site.
“Scottish Labour will continue to work with all parties involved to support the workforce at the site.”
The Scottish Government has been approached for comment.
