HUNDREDS of staff at a Scots engineering company which is facing insolvency have carried out an occupation of three yards and barricaded gates to ensure nothing is removed.
Staff at Burntisland Fabrications, or BiFab, made the move as they launched a 'work-in' to complete their current order even though they are not being paid, union leaders said.
The GMB union said BiFab's workforce of about 1,400 people were carrying on working at yards in Fife and Lewis as emergency talks continue over the crisis-hit company.
And hundreds are expected to launched an emergency protest march down the Royal Mile on Thursday before demonstrating outside Holyrood over the crisis.
Unions said staff had agreed to a "work-in" to ensure the contract they are working on remained at their yards.
BiFab has previously said it was "actively in discussion" to consider options to allow it to continue trading.
The company said it was facing a “critical cash position” linked to ongoing contracts and has filed a notice of its intention to appoint administrators. Unions have raised fears over potential job losses, saying any loss of employment would be a blow for the Scottish economy.
Hazel Nolan, regional organiser of the GMB union, which has been advising many of the men, said: "They were told on Monday that they wouldn't be paid for their work going forward. So they have taken over the yards and are continuing to work as normal on their jobs in order to try and keep the yard open.
"There is no access through those gates, as the men are continuing to work. They have been barricaded. If any assets [like machinery and equipment] are removed then the yard's dead.
"They don't want any loss adjusters to come in and take any plant or machinery out, which is asset stripping the yard.
"We don't want this to go on at all because the workers aren't getting paid but they are determined to stick it out until the yard is saved." She said that some 500 were expected to take part in the march in Edinburgh on Thursday ending with a rally and demo outside Holyrood.
"They are expecting the Scottish Government to intervene and save the yard, through either finance or through securing a new owner for the site," she said.
A year ago BiFab secured a £100m contract for the manufacture of 26 offshore wind turbine jackets from the Dutch contractor Seaway Heavy Lifting (SHL), part of the £2.6bn Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Ltd (Bowl) project in the Outer Moray Firth led by energy giant SSE. It is understood they are 75 per cent through that contract.
GMB Scotland and Unite the Union Scotland alongside the STUC, are calling on the Scottish Government to get to the bottom of the contractual dispute between BiFab and the Dutch owned contractor Seaway Heavy Lifting.
STUC general secretary Grahame Smith said: “The BiFab workers have courageously decided to continue to work to complete their current contract, despite having no guarantee that they will be paid. Workers are now effectively occupying the site and staffing the gates so that equipment and materials cannot be removed from the Methil yard. Both unions are concerned that the assets within the yard will be stripped out and they are simply not prepared to sit back and watch this happen.
“This is a viable workforce and these are viable yards - important strategic assets - ready and able to help deliver the future of Scottish manufacturing. Letting these workers and their communities go under is not an option. The last thing we need is to lose 1400 well paid, skilled jobs from the Scottish economy. The whole country needs to stand alongside these workers, their families, and their communities.”
The company which has yards in Burntisland, Methill and at Arnish on Lewis builds large-scale equipment for the offshore oil and gas industry, as well as platforms for offshore wind turbines and tidal generators. It has a workforce comprised of 251 permanent staff and 1,132 agency workers.
Keith Brown, the economy secretary Paul Wheelhouse, the business secretary have been holding "senior level meetings" since Friday with BiFab, SHL, SSE, Siemens, Scottish Enterprise among others to "fully explore all options to save the company – and the jobs that depend upon it".
Mr Brown said: "We have been working closely with trade unions, and invited representatives to a meeting in the Scottish Parliament this afternoon to update them on developments.
“The First Minister, along with other ministers, has been in direct discussion with the companies involved and is closely engaged on the issues surrounding BiFab’s situation.
"We are very much aware that this will be a distressing time for the people employed at BiFab, as well as their families and the wider communities of Burntisland, Methil and Arnish, but I want to assure them that the Scottish Government is doing what we can to secure a positive resolution. “We hope to be able to provide more clarity on the situation in the near future.”
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