The fate of jobs at the Grangemouth petrochemical plant now
lies solely in the hands of a ruthless corporation that buys firms and then drives them back into profit at the
expense of their workers’ wages and benefits.
The 1,800 Grangemouth workers have found that neither the Unite
union leaders, who they pay for, nor Labour or SNP representatives they voted
for, would stand with them, if they decided to mobilise a real fight against
Ineos. In an amazing display of solidarity and determination, the majority of
the Unite members had voted to strike
and reject the company’s blackmail.
But within hours of their vote on Wednesday, the message from
all sides was that there was no alternative to accepting destruction of living
standards and the pensions of any future workers. A media outcry held the
workers responsible for the fate of the 10,000 related jobs in the local area.
So yesterday, their union leaders simply caved in. Unite
general secretary Len McCluskey left earlier negotiations up to local officials
but hurried up from London to capitulate in person. Within hours he had
unreservedly accepted the company’s terms, “warts and all”. Shocking but true.
McCluskey has breathed fire and brimstone since the ConDems
coalition took power, threatening strikes, civil disobedience, even a general
strike against austerity, the public sector wage freeze and pension curbs. When
it came to the crunch, he had no fight. Hot air and nothing more.
Later today it will be discovered whether this treachery is
enough to keep the plant open or if in reality the company never had any
intention of staying their hand. The closure of the petrochemical plant at
Grangemouth would reduce global capacity and drive up prices to the benefit of Ineos
plants elsewhere.
And that's the big lesson. When it comes down to it, the
corporations make decisions on the basis of their own business plans, on the
grounds of costs, shareholder value and profits. And so who holds the power?
The Scottish SNP government lined up with the Westminster
government to demand that the Grangemouth workers accept the inevitable. First
minister Alex Salmond was in talks begging Ineos not to close the plant.
Finance minister John Swinney, the great champion of an oil-based independent
economy, stood shoulder to shoulder with ConDem Scottish secretary Alistair
Carmichael.
SNP claims that a capitalist Scotland would be in some way
better for Scottish workers have been exploded. Ineos, like all Scotland's key
industries from oil to whisky, is not "Scottish". They are run by
freebooting global capitalist transnationals with no care for local conditions,
except where they impact on profits.
The adjacent oil refinery, whose waste product is processed
at the threatened plant, is owned by Petroineos, a refining and trading joint
venture between Ineos and the Chinese government-owned PetroChina. Its other
refinery is at Lavera, near Marseilles.
As the recession continues and fracking throws more cheap US
coal and gas on to the world market, who knows what will happen to the offshore
oil refining business. There is no such thing as security for workers, whatever
the status of their country's governance.
The Unite members were ready to fight and their union could
have organised an occupation to prevent the dismemberment of the plant, but
they did not and will not. Independence will not change that.
Those who limit their vision for the future to achieving a
"Yes" vote in the 2014 referendum have missed the point. Independence
and self-determination should not be reduced to whether a Scottish elite should
be in charge of a capitalist Scotland.
It has to be about acquiring a revolutionary independence,
forging a new solidarity across the UK and Ireland, based on the struggle for a
democratic state, for the socialisation of Scotland’s resources, for a new
commons. That would provide a platform for a sustainable energy strategy that
protects both jobs and the environment.
Penny Cole
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