Workers at a huge petrochemical site are to ban overtime and take other industrial action in a row over the treatment of a union official.
Unite said the action will start next Monday at the Ineos site in Grangemouth.The ban on overtime and a work-to-rule will disrupt and slow down operations, said Unite.
The move followed an announcement that Ineos had asked the UK and Scottish Governments for grants and loan guarantees of £150 million to build a new gas terminal at the site.
The company said that without new investment, Grangemouth would close by 2017.
The dispute centres on union official Stevie Deans, who was involved in the bitter row with Labour over the selection of a candidate in the Falkirk constituency.
Mr Deans, who is chairman of the constituency party, faces an investigation by Ineos over issues linked to the Falkirk row.
The union said it will hold a mass meetingtomorrow at the Grangemouth site where Ineos workers will discuss the potential escalation of industrial action.
Unite Scottish regional secretary Pat Rafferty said: “Unite has given Ineos management opportunity after opportunityto come to its senses and end the unfair treatment of Stephen Deans.
“Unite has announced action which will slow down operations from next Monday but the workforce are losing their patience and are ready to escalate the action unless the company ends its treatment of a loyal member of staff with 24 years’ service.
“Ineos is trying to spin this dispute into a fight over the future of Grangemouth this is not the case. We have always been willing to sit down with the company and discuss the challenges facing the business.”