March for jobs sees hundreds take to the streets of Grangemouth

They marched past the Ineos headquarters and against a backdrop of the industry which is so much a part of this town’s heritage.

They waved flags, carried banners and as the Unison Kinneil Band played, chanted the campaign slogans to save the jobs of over 400 workers at the refinery and thousands more who will be affected if the owners carry out their threat to close it and turn the refinery into an oil import facility.

Since last November when the shock announcement came that the closure was planned as early as Spring 2025, workers have mounted a campaign to keep Grangemouth working with the message that there must be an extension to the refinery’s lifespan, investment in the site and work towards transition.

The marchers converged on Zetland Park where speaker after speaker backed the workers’ campaign and urged both the Scottish and Westminster governments to act to safeguard the future of the refinery.

Former Alba MP Kenny MacAskill told the crowd that the plan to close the refinery was “exploitation of our nation’s resource and we cannot allow that to happen”.

Brian Leishman, the new Labour MP for Alloa & Grangemouth, who has already raised the issue in the House of Commons, said: “It’s a myth that the refinery is not profitable. We are at a critical point and nothing should be taken off the table. The refinery could be the site of an energy revolution”

Businessman Amrit Dhillon echoed what had been said by previous speaker and highlighted how important the refinery was to the economy of the town and its community.

Refinery Unite convener Chris Hamilton said that of the 500 staff only 100 would remain under the Petroineos plan, but thousands more could be affected. “It’s easy to quote facts and figures,” he said: “but we cannot lose people’s livelihoods.”

Derek Thomson, Unite Scottish secretary, said: “Grangemouth is one of the greatest tests the just transition process will ever face in Scotland. We need to get this right for the workers based at the refinery, and the thousands more dependent upon it in the wider supply chain and Grangemouth community.”