Fighting to defend the NAECI at Fawley refinery - National Shop Stewards Network

28 June There was a huge tail back of traffic outside the Esso Oil Refinery at Fawley in Hampshire this yesterday morning (27 June) where Unite staged a protest in defence of the NAECI/Blue Book agreement.

Esso’s parent company Exxon Mobil is starting a shutdown on the Cat Cracker plant but along with the main contractor, is refusing to confirm if the work will be done under the NAECI agreement. This will mean that workers in the contractors who get the work could be paid less than the national agreement with all the other negotiated terms and conditions.

NSSN supporters, including national chair Rob Williams, joined with Unite officers and activists who gave out thousands of leaflets, all determined that this won’t be another case of greedy bosses looking to threaten hard-won longstanding agreements and slash wages not just in Fawley but nationwide.

There is the danger, as in Lindsey Oil Refinery in 2009 that the employers will try and exploit workers from abroad to break the NAECI. The workers then, led by rank and file activists like NSSN supporter Keith Gibson were able to cut across these divide and rule tactics.

The victory of the Sparks in defeating the bosses BESNA contract shows that its possible for workers to win. This new confidence was shown with the successful reinstatement of suspended health & safety Ratcliffe steward Jason Poulter as a result of over a thousand workers walking out at the power station in May.

These activists are prepared to continue the campaign to force Esso and their contractor to adhere to NAECI.