MORE than 1500 workers in Scotland today joined a rapidly-spreading strike over the use of foreign workers.

MORE than 1500 workers in Scotland today joined a rapidly-spreading strike over the use of foreign workers.

Mechanical contractors at seven sites, including Grangemouth oil refinery and three power stations, are now taking part in the unofficial action.

They acted in support of workers in England who walked out on Wednesday over the decision to bring in hundreds of Italian and Portuguese contractors to work on a new £200million plant at the Lindsey oil refinery in North Lincolnshire.

Around 100 Italian and Portuguese workers are on the site, and are expected to be joined by 300 more next month.

As the row escalated, 400 workers at a refinery near Redcar, Teesside, also walked out.

And in south Wales, police were called to Aberthaw power station near Barry after a protest was staged there.

The first Scots to join the action were 700 BP and INEOS workers in Grangemouth oil refinery.

Bobby Buirds, a regional officer for Unite in Scotland, said: "The argument is not against foreign workers, it's against foreign companies discriminating against British labour.

"If the job of these mechanical contractors at INEOS finishes and they try to get jobs down south, the jobs are already occupied by foreign labour and their opportunities are decreasing. This is a fight for work. It is a fight for the right to work in our own country.

"It is not a racist argument at all."

Mr Buirds said mechanical contractors at six other Scottish sites, in addition to Grangemouth, were also on unofficial strike. About 500 walked out at ScottishPower's Longannet power station, and about 100 at its Cockenzie power station, while 80 stopped work at the Torness power station.

At the Shell St Fergus gas processing plant in Aberdeenshire, about 50 workers downed tools, while about 100 stopped work at ExxonMobil's petrochemicals plant in Mossmoran in Fife, as did some workers at the Shell plant in Mossmoran.

A spokesman for INEOS said: "We are very disappointed that the contractors have chosen to walk out, especially as we've got a good working relationship with them.

"Our plants are operational and there is no issue as regards safety, and there will be no impact on production levels at all."