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Construction workers walk out

In a continuation of the battle to stop large construction firms bringing in workers on lower than the trade union negotiated wages and conditions, workers at the South Hook liquefied natural gas site in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, walked out on 19 May. Contractor Hertel had failed to comply with an agreement to offer lagging work to local workers.

The South Hook workers were joined by workers at the Aberthaw power station in the Vale of Glamorgan and at the Lindsey oil refinery site in Lincolnshire.

The Lindsey workers were at the centre of a dispute over pay, skills and conditions earlier this year and successfully fought off attempts by a contractor to bring in workers from Italy on lower wages. The wage rates of the whole workforce were restored to the levels specified in the NAECI agreement.

As the article below shows, the NAECI agreement is constantly having to be defended against attempts to undermine it by the construction bosses.