A lot of misinformation swirling about with diverse interests seeking to muddy the waters.
For one thing the Union are not and have never been on strike. They agreed to postpone strike action pending further talks and Ineos immediately shut down the plant such that the workers were actually 'locked-out'.
Grangemouth was operating comfortably in profit (probably still is?) until Ineos revalued the asset, i.e. the plant, down from millions? billions? to zero - a piece of accounting slight of hand - thus creating an 'on paper' loss. Why? The strategy seems to have been to co-erce either the UK or Scottish Goverments, or both, to put in taxpayers money to shore up the profitability of the plant. Some people have said this is a very risky strategy as it leaves the plant open to a Compulsory Purchase Order at market value - currently zero.
Stephen Deans, not only the full time Unite shop steward at the plant but also the chair of Falkirk CLP, was suspended because management discovered that he had made, in work time, from his office inside the plant, over 300 contacts by phone/e.mail with Scottish Labour HQ in a 3 month period, but scarcely any, perfectly legitimate in terms of his job ones, with Unite HQ. He has been reinstated pending the result of an internal enquiry into his conduct which is due to report its findings on Friday.
Avaolivia suggests that this will have stopped Alex Salmond's yes campaign dead in its tracks. I have a big suspicion that this was the intention of 'the powers that be' but in the event, my extensive reading of all the websites that allow comments (as opposed to the MSM) shows that public opinion is applauding the Scottish Government's efforts to bring this dispute and the threats from both sides to a sensible, reasonable conclusion, while noting that relying on the strength of the United Kingdom, 'better together' has done nothing to prevent this impasse and indeed has created the conditions in which it has been possible. Also noting that the main protagonists are a trade unionist who appears to spend more time on Labour Party business than on fighting for the workers he is suppose to represent and a billionaire business man who contributes not one penny piece of the profits of his offshore businesses, nor his private wealth to UK taxation, but does share some of his fortune by way of donations to the Conservative party.
BTW The YES campaign has members and supporters from all political parties and none. I and thousands more of my generation, have been supporters of Scottish Independence since way before Alex Salmond joined the cause.
