LONDON, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Union refinery workers in Britain are meeting with Total management Monday, as scores of workers around the country joined a protest against hiring outsiders.
The unofficial walkout that began a week ago to protest oil company Total's hiring of Italian and Portuguese workers for a major construction project at the Lindsey Oil Refinery spread to a raft of other energy and construction sites, The Times of London reported.
Workers at a Sellafield, England, nuclear facility and about 700 contractors at an oil refinery in central Scotland were among those joining the protest with work stoppages.
The issue has percolated through political ranks. Ahead of a government-ordered report, Secretary of State for Business Peter Mandelson said the company's hiring practice "would conform" to hiring laws. But, Health Secretary Alan Johnson later suggested the government would bow to pressure and press for further job-protection measures.
Mandelson responded by saying Johnson was not fully informed on the matter, The Times said.
