Grangemouth petrochemical plant to close

[pete]

It looks like they manufactured a dispute... Quite a litigious company too.

[woody]

It looks like they manufactured a dispute... Quite a litigious company too.

I've hear it's not exactly difficult to manufacture a dispute with Unite. Keep getting a sense of de ja vous....

[mckeann]

What your reading in the news is barely even half the story.
Trust me, a pay freeze and pension cut would sound great if that's all it was. I don't have the time or energy to go into the details, but it will no doubt unravel.

Fingers crossed I still have a job at the end of ratcliffe's game

[mckeann]

I get the impression Ineos are being a bit creative with their figures. £10 million a month loss is hard to believe. Interesting read on it here - http://wingsoverscotland.com/grangemout ... -as-known/

Haven't read the article yet, but your spot on about creative accounting. My understanding is that the Grangemouth complex or my part of the petrochemical business (i cant remember which slide i saw it on) made 70m profit last year. When you take away the money there spending on upgrading feedstock supplies to handle shale gas, they made a 120m loss. But that's like saying I lost 200k this yer coz I bought a house. Surely these upgrades should be paid for over the life of the tank and terminal etc. he's trying to make it look unprofitable on purpose.

[mckeann]

http://opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/rob ... t-tells-us

[scott_e]

Haven't read the article yet, but your spot on about creative accounting. My understanding is that the Grangemouth complex or my part of the petrochemical business (i cant remember which slide i saw it on) made 70m profit last year. When you take away the money there spending on upgrading feedstock supplies to handle shale gas, they made a 120m loss. But that's like saying I lost 200k this yer coz I bought a house. Surely these upgrades should be paid for over the life of the tank and terminal etc. he's trying to make it look unprofitable on purpose.

Appreciate there are lives and emotions involved here and your are much closer to the ground on this one but can i ask why the owners would want to close a plant that was making money ? why be creative just to close the plant ? surly the investment is then lost and if you are marketing for a buyer is isn't going to help at all.

I do hope this ends well for everyone involved. Its very sad news indeed.

[duggiesmith]

Looks like the union's done a U-turn
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-24647843

I don't know the full story so can't comment on whose wrong and whose right. I just hope they can come to an agreement, save jobs and get the plant up and running again.

[flyingscot68]

It appears Mr Salmond has got involved and the result looks like it'll be a good one, fingers crossed.

http://news.sky.com/story/1159539/grang ... inute-deal

[Shug]

It appears Mr Salmond has got involved and the result looks like it'll be a good one, fingers crossed.

http://news.sky.com/story/1159539/grang ... inute-deal

I hope wee Eck isn't going to try and claim responsibility for this...

What I've seen goes like - Ineos play hard ball, Union sh*te themselves and back down, hopefully Ineos come back to the table. I daresay his office will have been ringing round everyone, but I bet the response to the call is more along the lines of "FFS p*ss off and let us get on with it" than anything constructive...

[scott_e]

What I've seen goes like - Ineos play hard ball, Union sh*te themselves and back down, hopefully Ineos come back to the table. I daresay his office will have been ringing round everyone, but I bet the response to the call is more along the lines of "FFS p*ss off and let us get on with it" than anything constructive...

BBC Moneybox Robert Dinwoodie says: "Jim Ratcliffe has taken the union Unite to the cleaner and got everything he wanted by shutting the plant down" this was in response to the unions latest response to accept the proposal. His opinion seems to be that Ratcliffe plays hardball and is very good at his job.

[ruadh08]

It appears Mr Salmond has got involved and the result looks like it'll be a good one, fingers crossed.

http://news.sky.com/story/1159539/grang ... inute-deal

I think wee Eck has had eff all to do with getting this situation resolved. Knowing him he will probably claim it was all down to him...........

[flyingscot68]

It appears Mr Salmond has got involved and the result looks like it'll be a good one, fingers crossed.

http://news.sky.com/story/1159539/grang ... inute-deal

I think wee Eck has had eff all to do with getting this situation resolved. Knowing him he will probably claim it was all down to him...........

Not what I've been told by those close to it, but politicians being what they are we'll probably only ever hear what they want us to hear.

[robin]

.. politicians being what they are we'll probably only ever hear what they want us to hear.

Unless you punch them in the gob before they open it

[DJ]

Glad to see jobs are safe. Whatever your view is on Unite or the dispute, it's fair to say the union completely misread the situation. I wonder how many employees will become pi$$ed off with them once the dust settles. I expect the union and their reps will present their efforts as valiant however and will still have support of the union faithfuls. Passion is running high just now so seems like Unite still have strong support but will be interesting to see if this changes soon.

[campbell]

I don't have the time or energy to go into the details, but it will no doubt unravel.

Fingers crossed I still have a job at the end of ratcliffe's game

I would like to hear more about your angle, Neil, but that will involve a trip to the pub I reckon

Looks like there is a stay of execution for now...but that's all I'd call it.