Our Politics newsletter is now daily. Join thousands of others and get the latest Scottish politics news sent straight to your inbox. Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

BOSSES at Grangemouth oil refinery were yesterday accused of holding Scotland to ransom by keeping the plant shut – despite a strike being called off.

The Unite union agreed that a 48-hour walkout would not go ahead, even though peace talks with management broke down.

But Ineos, who run the plant, said a “cold” shutdown that began in preparation for the strike would remain in place.

The move raised fears of permanent closure of the petrochemical complex.

And Ineos were accused of using that threat as a way to break the union, force in wage cuts and redundancies and to wrestle millions of pounds of public subsidy out of the UK.

Unite regional secretary Pat Rafferty said: “Ineos’s decision to keep Grangemouth shut is an act of economic vandalism.

“There is no reason for the site to remain shut. The company are holding Scotland to ransom.”

Both UK and Scottish governments sought urgent meetings with Ineos after the talks broke down.

Unite said the firm walked away after 16 hours of negotiation because Ineos chairman Jim Ratcliffe had demanded an apology from the union.

First Minister Alex Salmond said there was now “huge uncertainty” about the long-term future of the plant.

He added: “The dispute has moved to one that is about the survival of Grangemouth

as a chemical plant and refinery in Scotland.”

Speaking in Downing Street after the issue was raised with David Cameron, Salmond said: “Both governments would prevail on Ineos and Unite to find a solution that gives Grangemouth a future.”

Salmond said Scotland would be able to import sufficient fuel supplies to ensure there were no shortages during the shutdown.

He added: “People should not be concerned about that.”

Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael said: “This is a dispute which has enormous danger of damaging Scotland’s economy and confidence. The stakes are exceptionally high here. This could be seriously bad news for Scotland’s economy.”

Michael Connarty, Labour MP for Linlithgow and Falkirk, said: “Management have manufactured this dispute to cover their plan to slash conditions and close assets.It’s a form of industrial blackmail.”

A spokesman for Ineos said the Stirlingshire complex “is shut down and will remain shut down”, adding: “The dispute is not resolved. We needed an assurance that there would not be another strike this winter.”

Ineos recently warned that the plant, which employ 1300 permanent workers and up to 1000 contractors, were losing £10million a month and would close by 2017 without investment.

They said yesterday: Grangemouth is financially distressed. The industrial action called by Unite has inflicted significant further damage”

The company have sent a letter to employees outlining a survival plan that includes the closure of assets and getting rid of final salary pensions. They will go back to them on Monday for a response.

Sunday’s planned strike was sparked by Ineos’s treatment of Unite convener Stephen Deans over his role as chairman of the Labour Party in Falkirk.