Altrad Services – which owns Motherwell Bridge, Cape Industrial Services and Hertel Industrial Services – based at Grangemouth has agreed to reinstate all recently redundant workers, and to furlough them under the terms of the UK government’s coronavirus job retention scheme initially for a six-week review period. The company’s operations include providing industrial services to the oil and gas, energy, and petrochemical sectors.

Last week, Unite welcomed a number of other Grangemouth based employers’ decisions to furlough their workforce. Bilfinger UK Limited which employs around 230 made the decision for all non-essential employees who cannot work from home, including those who may have been recently made redundant, and those on fixed term contracts. In addition, Veolia which assists businesses with waste, water and energy management agreed to furlough their ‘non-essential’ employees who cannot work from home on 100 per cent pay.

Unite regional officer Scott Foley said: “Following Unite’s intervention, around 80 workers across Altrad Services operations based at Grangemouth have been reinstated under the government’s job retention scheme. We are pleased that the company reversed their decision and that these workers have been furloughed rather than be made redundant. It’s essential that employers act responsibly and utilise the government job retention scheme wherever possible. Unite has been working very hard to ensure that many companies based around the oil refinery do the responsible thing to safeguard jobs.”