Ineos announces closure of Grangemouth petrochemical plant in Scotland

An industrial dispute between management and union workers at the Grangemouth oil refinery and petrochemical plant near Falkirk has resulted in the abrupt announcement by Ineos of the closure of the petrochemical plant.

Ineos held a meeting with its shareholders in the presence of chairman and founder Jim Ratcliffe to review the situation. The company broke the news to workers on Wednesday.

Around 800 workers are directly employed at the petrochemical plant and up to 500 work as contractors.

The closure decision came in the wake of rejection by nearly half the workers to the company’s survival plan proposed ahead of industrial action.

The union leaders said they plan to meet Ineos management with new proposals in a bid to save jobs, while the company hinted at the possibility of revisiting the decision after the threat of strike action had been removed.

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: "This plant is on cold shut down and each day that goes by makes it harder to start back up again, which is why the stewards made the offer to the company, so that we can get people back to work."

Ministers, including the Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael and the Energy Secretary Ed Davey, are expected to meet in London to decide on a response to the announcement.

Ineos chairman and founder Jim Ratcliffe has previously said that if the petrochemical plant closed it was likely the refinery would go also.

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Image: The closure is set to impact thousands of jobs at the Ineos oil refinery and petrochemical plant at the giant Grangemouth complex; Photo: courtesy of INEOS Capital Limited.