Unite lays hard hats outside Scottish Labour conference in Grangemouth protest

Labour’s green transition plans cannot be fuelled by “transitioning our jobs abroad”, Sharon Graham has warned at a Scottish Labour conference protest over saving the Grangemouth oil refinery.

Speaking to LabourList at the protest outside the Scottish Labour conference in Glasgow on Friday, Graham argued that Grangemouth was ideally placed to provide green aviation fuel for the expansion of Heathrow Airport.

It was announced last year that the oil refinery, the only one in Scotland, would be closed, with the loss of 400 jobs.

Unite workers battled the elements as they laid 400 helmets, one for every job lost, outside the Scottish Event Campus venue.

At one point a particularly powerful gust of wind blew several helmets across the parking lot, though nearby Waspi campaigners were on hand to help the trade unionists gather them back up.

‘Labour can’t put their fingers in their ears’

The protesters chanted: “You said our refinery was your top priority” and “keep Grangemouth working”.

Graham echoed their sentiments.

“We’re here to say to the Labour government in the UK, and obviously the politicians in Scotland, that they need to save the Grangemouth site.

“It’s not acceptable for them to put their fingers in their ears, and not save this site, and that’s what we are demanding today.”

Grangemouth’s closure is a terrible thing for the UK

She said Grangemouth’s closure wasn’t just a terrible thing for the people of Grangemouth but also the UK.

“I think it’s a terrible thing for the UK. Rachel Reeves went on the telly a couple of weeks ago to say that for our Heathrow expansion we’re going to need green aviation fuel.

“And the question I keep asking is: Where are you going to get it from?

“We don’t make green aviation fuel at the moment. So if you’re not going to get it from sites like Grangemouth, which is sitting there read to make it, where are we getting it from?

“Are they seriously telling me that this transition is about transitioning our jobs abroad? Because if they do that, that will never be forgotten, and we will not allow that to happen.”

‘This is a highly skilled workforce’

Graham said the hard hats represent the skills of Grangemouth’s workforce.

“This represents 400 workers, a hard hat for every worker, and the skills these workers have.

“This is a highly skilled and trained workforce. We need those skills in Britain.

“It is a matter of national security that Grangemouth stays open and transitions into an aviation fuel site. We need to make sure that they do that.”

Read more on Scottish Labour conference:

• Interview: Ian Murray on the latest polls, pat leave and Labour ‘not aping Reform’
• Joani Reid MP: ‘Here’s why Scottish Labour shouldn’t despair at the polls’
• Delegates at Scottish Labour conference set to debate motions on winter fuel, Cass review, and others
• Scottish Labour conference: Emergency motion on Palestine to be debated

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