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One in Ten English Speakers on Site an Expertise Thing Says SITA

20 May 2015 | Updated 01 January 1970
 

The bitter dispute between the GMB union and SITA Sembcorp UK at the Teesside Waste To Energy Construction Site in Redcar carried on over the weekend.

The rally on Saturday was called by the GMB over what it alleged is the use of low paid ‘migrant workers’ that have undercut local workers and may be compromising health and safety because of language concerns (see last week’s TWinFM). http://www.twinfm.com/article.php?artid=1940&title=News&article=one-in-ten---are-english-speakers-just-a-number-on-a-list?

 

Fightback - SITA Sembcorp UK rebuttal

For its part TWinFM has obtained a rebuttal of the charges made by the GMB fro SITA Sembcorp UK. A spokesman for the company stated:

“It’s important to provide some context here – none of the people working at the Wilton 11 site has been involved with any of the protests that have taken place so far.  The facts are:

  • Everyone working at Wilton 11 has rates of pay equivalent to or higher than each of the unions’ relevant national agreements.  
  • Allegations of low pay and the use of migrant labour to undercut the local workforce are untrue.  
  • Almost all of the construction staff (on the civils side) have been British.
  • Specialist energy-from-waste process equipment is only produced in other European countries. It is these people who are now on site – because they are the only people who have the knowledge to install it.
  • Ensuring the health and safety of everyone working at the site is our number one priority and this will always be the case.”

The two sides appear to be as far apart as ever and the GMB contests the points made by SITA UK.

“I hope the Teesside Construction Committee hold many more protests and only ease up when Redcar and Cleveland council only sign planning consents with a the proviso that the construction is undertaken using the appropriate collective agreements,” declared Phil Whitehurst, National Officer, GMB, speaking at the Saturday rally. “In the UK this is Construction Industry Joint Council (CIJC) for civil construction and National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry (NAECI) for mechanical construction.”

Picture:   The GMB members were out in force on Saturday to highlight the continuing dispute with SITA Sembcorp UK.

Article written by Mike Gannon | Published 20 May 2015

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