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  Date / Time: 2/1/2009 6:26 PM UTC

  The word went out on the web: every skilled man should strike
  

  As the shift arrived at Aberthaw power station in South Wales yesterday morning, a crowd of workers were already shivering outside the main gates.

  Fifteen minutes later, at 6.30am, 400 men began to gather outside the Wilton chemical complex on Teesside behind a banner demanding “British jobs 4 British workers”. At 8am 700 workers refused to enter the Ineos refinery in Grangemouth, Scotland.

  By mid-morning the dispute had spread to a dozen power stations, oil refineries and chemical plants.

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  At lunchtime thousands of highly skilled engineers and construction workers at at least 19 sites had quit for the day. With the prospect of an early start to the weekend, most spent only a couple of hours on the picket line before heading home or to the pub.

  The South Wales protest had marked the start of wildcat strikes not seen for 30 years and the most widespread direct action since the fuel protests in 2000. Employers, politicians and trade union leaders were left on the back foot as the apparently spontaneous action spread across the UK.

  Anger had been bubbling for weeks, with websites for skilled manual workers full of resentful messages about foreigners being employed in Britain. The catalyst for the strikes was the decision to bring in hundreds of Italian and Portuguese contractors to work on the £200 million Lindsey oil refinery in North Lincolnshire. Six hundred British contractors walked out of the plant on Wednesday. Contractors at Aberthaw and other sites voted on Thursday to strike in sympathy.

  In online forums used by construction and engineering workers, news of the spreading strikes was greeted with enthusiasm. Union sources said that details of the disputes were also being spread by text messages to encourage others to join in.

  Andy Summers, 60, an insulation engineer from Barry, South Wales, who joined the protest at Aberthaw, said: “It was the working classes who opened up Europe but it’s now the working classes who are going on the dole — with jobs going to people coming from abroad. People like us have travelled across Britain on contract jobs. But now we can’t get work because of the influx of European labour.”

  John Cummins, 44, from Cardiff, said: “I was laid off as a stevedore two weeks ago. I’ve come here today hoping that we can shake the Government up. I think the whole country should go on strike as we’re losing all British industry.”

  Laws preventing secondary action and strikes without ballots meant that the unions could not offer official support. Unite, which represents engineering and construction workers, tried to show understanding without explicitly supporting the walkouts.

  The frustration directed at union leaders on discussion boards and picket lines served to emphasise the sense that this was a grassroots movement rather than any centrally orchestrated plan. On the UKwelder site, a user calling himself “mig2stick” wrote: “Respect to everyone who’s supporting this fight. As lads know the fight started on this forum long before any union rep wanted to get involved. We need every skilled man to show support by withdrawing their labour on all sites.”

  On the ground shop stewards gave their personal backing. Bobby Buirds, a Unite regional officer in Scotland, said that the workers at Grangemouth were striking to protect British jobs. “The argument is not against foreign workers, it’s against foreign companies discriminating against British labour,” he said. “It is a fight for the right to work in our own country. It is not a racist argument at all.”

  Meanwhile, the Prime Minister, the Business Secretary and the Leader of the Opposition were in the Swiss ski resort of Davos discussing the world economic crisis. By yesterday lunchtime Gordon Brown’s official spokesman still appeared puzzled by the growing dispute at home. “We need to do more to establish what the facts are,” he said. “There seems to be some dispute about Italian workers in a construction site.” Answering concerns that Britain was facing a winter of industrial discontent not seen for 30 years, the spokesman replied: “Of course people are worried, and that is why we are taking action.”

  The Prime Minister said yesterday that Britain was in “the eye of a global financial storm”. He told The Daily Telegraph: “We have got to show that the leadership we are taking can make a difference.” Mr Brown remained positive in the face of the predictions from the International Monetary Fund that Britain faced a deeper recession than other developed nations. “I am absolutely confident about Britain’s future,” he said. “I have utter confidence in our ability to come through this. I have utter confidence, not only in the British people’s determination to come through this, but that people will work together to make sure Britain emerges from this.”

  The origins of the industrial dispute date from autumn when two Spanish subcontractors started using foreign workers to build a gas-fired power station in Staythorpe, Nottinghamshire. Similar controversy surrounds the construction of a power station in Kent.

  When we (the politicians) signed up for the Common Market/EEC/EC/EU/United States of Europe this is what we agreed to! It is long overdue for us to realise that the European experiment has been a total disaster and withdrawal is the only sensible option.

  Norman, Falmouth,

  When GB bragged of creating 1m new British jobs it turned out .8m had been filled by non EU workers. His new Labour have given out over 1.2m British pasports to non EU citizens.He welched on his party's promise of a referendum on Lisbon.Any wonder the natives are restless?It's the end of Labour.

  Andy m, london,

  Ywa, it is about fair goes for all. advertising British jobs only in a foreign language is out of order.

  Sue Doughty, Twyford, UK

  Alivier ,London ,I read your comments with a smirk because have you ever been through the burocratic nightmare of having other national qualifications graded to its Spanish equivalent? No I don´t think so & every other European citizen gets a down grading as well as Brits.European law ,what a joke.

  Michael Burkinshaw, Vilagarcía de Arousa, Galicia/Spain

  brian.w glasgow; i similarly worked in germany at various times in the 70s,80s and 90s each time the job wound down and we went.we couldnt hang around on the dole there to leech and send benefits home,but were told enough for our own workers only,if this changes then we have your contact details.

  raymond derek hewitt, manchester, lancashire

  I was paid off in Holland 5 yrs ago as a job the dutch lads were on finished and the dutch weren't going to lay there own men off while brits were there working so they took our jobs.We went home as thought yes that is the way it should be Pity we dont look after our own like the rest of europe

  brian w, glasgow,

  Brown should have said, 'European jobs for European workers.' Like it or not, referendum or not, that's where we are:
  fait accompli. Why protest at perfectly innocent workers from elsewhere? Those responsible are not living on a floating work camp. Not a hope of that!

  cara brown, london, U.K.

  It was only a matter of time before this protest was forced on the British Workers. There are too many Foreign workers in this country. I live in the Fens,where we are over run with East Europeans, Portugese, Chinese, Nigerians and more, taking jobs away from British Workers.

  D Weller, Wisbech, England

  Alivier, i am not interested in what is legal or not legal under European law. What I am interested in is feeding my family. Every working man and women needs to wake up and take action against this government and any new government who decides to keep hitting the worker

  dave jones, chesterfield, uk

  My views are simply, the Goverment has no intension of helping the working class and are only interested in their own.
  
  The EndGame forsaw this as global enslavement. Have a look search for Endgame on Google everything will be explained.

  SteveP, NW, UK

  Free market global capitalism went mad a long time ago, it recognises so called politicians, civil servants and financiers only.
  the UK has been deliberately disadvantaged by these individuals who have cared nought for ordinary people.

  Dave, Chorley,

  this is free market globalised capitalism coming home to roost. solidarity with the workers. they must demand more than currently though, the entire system is set up to divide and rule workers and that system must be aboloshed.

  Steve, Falkirk,

  One imagines the uproar if Total had tried to bring in foreign workers at their plant in Lavera - I would imagine we would have seen the riot police by now ...

  Graham Hoyes, Oslo, Norway

  Lewis, any country should have done that to ensure that jobs should go to their nationals first. But because of the fact that UK is part of the EU, clearly under EU laws, every EU citizens have same equal rights to work anywhere in the EU whether in UK or France etc. Otherwise it is discrimination.

  Alivier, London, UK

  Now watch the lefties and labour and tories try to hijack British nationalism

  Neil, London, UK

  I beleive now more than ever at a time of rising unemployment British jobs should go to British nationals 1st; foreign labour should only be used when domestic labour is exhausted.

  john lewis, Upminster, England

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