Petrol Panic!
April 28, 2008
Industrial action is a hot topic at the moment, what with teachers staging walkouts and similar threats from postal workers (again) and pilots. Now it’s workers at the Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland, and, as has been widely reported in the media, this is now affecting petrol supplies to areas of Scotland and the North East of England.
The dispute is over the final salary pension scheme which the employer, Ineos, wishes to close to new workers. A series of talks between Ineos and Unite, the Union representing the workers, failed at the end of last week, leading to the two day walkout which began on Sunday. This has led to the close down of the plant and the pipeline which apparently supplies around 30% of Britain’s daily oil output. The public have been encouraged to carry on as normal and not run straight off to the pumps to fill up, but we all love a bit of drama don’t we and it looks like panic buying has occurred all over the place, ignoring the fact that there’s plenty to go around if we’re all sensible! (Although by chance I filled up the day before it was all announced so I would say that wouldn’t I…). According to reports, there has been little public support for the strike, and I’m not really surprised with so few companies now offering a final salary pension scheme, and also the high value we place on petrol in terms of our basic needs.
I’m not sure if it’s just me, but it appears that the amount of industrial action taking place is on the increase. Whether it’s a sign of the times with less financial stability all around us, or whether I’m just more attuned to these things than I used to be, I don’t know, but it seems that employee relations is moving up the agenda in terms of the key roles for HR professionals in the current climate of the world of employment.
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