British unions to step up dispute on foreign workers

Hundreds of British workers will hold protests at power stations today, the latest in a wave of labour unrest over the use of foreign contractors on major construction projects in recession-hit Britain.

The protests follow a week-long dispute at the Total-owned Lindsey oil refinery in eastern England earlier this month, which resulted in Total agreeing to hire more British workers on the project.

Up to 1,000 workers are expected to demonstrate at the Staythorpe power station in central England, owned by German group RWE, and the Isle of Grain plant in southern England, owned by E.on, union organisers said.

A petition will also be delivered to Prime Minister Gordon Brown disputing labour rules that allow engineering companies to hire workers from elsewhere in the EU and send them to work on British construction projects.

Unions say the practice leads to British workers being barred from applying for jobs and that British labour rates are being undercut by the foreign workers.

"It's got nothing to do with workers from overseas, it's the fact that British workers are being denied the opportunity to apply for the work," said Ciaran Naidoo, a spokesman for Unite, one of Britain's largest unions. "It's not a fair practice."

Total and other major energy groups say the contracting process meets British and European Union labour law.

In the latest protests, British workers are due to gather at Staythorpe, where RWE has contracted French engineering group Alstom to build a gas fired power station.

Two Spanish companies, Montpressa and FMM, have in turn been sub-contracted by Alstom to fit the turbine and boiler at the station, employing up to 850 workers, according to Unite, which says none of the jobs will go to British workers.

At the E.on-owned Isle of Grain power station, Alstom has again been contracted to build the plant and has sub-contracted a Polish firm to employ up to 450 workers.

RWE, E.on, Alstom and the other firms were not immediately available for comment.

The contracts have aggravated British unions at a time when unemployment is rising rapidly and the economy has fallen into recession. They have also put Mr Brown under pressure after he promised in 2007 that he would provide "British jobs for British workers", but now doesn't want to appear protectionist.

Unions say the hiring of external workers, who they believe are being paid less than agreed rates for skilled British labour, is particularly troubling since engineering construction is one of the few areas of the economy that is expanding.