{"id":2319,"date":"2014-11-25T15:28:56","date_gmt":"2014-11-25T15:28:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=2319"},"modified":"2014-11-25T15:28:56","modified_gmt":"2014-11-25T15:28:56","slug":"time-plan-b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=2319","title":{"rendered":"Time for Plan B"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Earlier this month, UNITElive reported<\/a> on the devastating collapse in talks between Murco oil company and potential buyer Klesch group over the sale of the Milford Haven oil refinery in Wales, where 400 workers and 200 contractors were employed.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnable to secure a buyer within its designated timeframe, Murco, a subsidiary of the US-owned Murphy oil company, has decided to decommission the refinery\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s operations and convert the plant into a petroleum storage and distribution terminal. In the process, roughly 350 highly skilled jobs will be lost.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite regional officer Allan Card explained the wide-ranging effects that the plant\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s closure would have.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt will be a big blow to both the local Welsh and wider UK economy, and will in turn affect the future security of the nation\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fuel supply,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is unfortunate that Murco has unilaterally decided to cease talks with any potential buyer. Even if a buyer were to come forward today with an acceptable deal, Murco has said the refinery is no longer up for sale.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nNow, Unite, together with the Welsh government, will move on to what Card called \u00e2\u20ac\u015bPlan B\u00e2\u20ac\u0165\u00e2\u20ac\u201densuring that the newly redundant workers and their families, as well as the local area\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s economy, receive the necessary support to lessen the impact of the plant\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s closure.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe taskforce originally set up to secure a buyer for the refinery will now focus on equipping former Milford Haven refinery workers with training and any additional qualifications they may need to make the transition into other positions, whether at the newly converted terminal or elsewhere.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite is now working to ensure the workers receive proper access to the ReAct fund, a government fund which covers the cost of training for newly redundant workers,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Card explained.<\/p>\n

 
\nAn additional \u00c2\u01413m fund has been set up by the Welsh government, in response to the refinery\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s closure, to support businesses in creating and protecting jobs in the local Pembrokeshire area.<\/p>\n

 
\nEven before the closure of the plant was certain, other refinery operators had hoped to recruit Milford Haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s highly skilled employees to work in other parts of the country.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe Milford Haven workforce had shown a tremendous sense of loyalty to their community by committing to the continue working at the refinery to ensure the saleability of the plant,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Card said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis was despite the workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 jobs being at risk.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nNow, Card explained, workers hoping to continue in the same positions may be forced to leave their community.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe workforce will be faced with the heart-breaking decision to uproot their families, many of whom were born and bred here,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Card. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is absolutely devastating that such highly skilled jobs will leave the local area.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month, UNITElive reported on the devastating collapse in talks between Murco oil company and potential buyer Klesch group over the sale of the Milford Haven oil refinery in Wales, where 400 workers and 200 contractors were employed.   Unable to secure a buyer within its designated timeframe, Murco, a subsidiary of the US-owned […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[55,162],"wps_subtitle":"What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s next for Milford Haven oil refinery workers?","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2319"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2319"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2320,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2319\/revisions\/2320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}