Workers have voted to restore recognition of the Unite union at the Ineos petrochemical site at Grangemouth.
In September last year the union said it would challenge Ineos’ decision to refuse it official recognition.
The results of a recognition ballot, agreed with the energy firm, have now returned with 83% voting to restore collective bargaining, meaning Unite can negotiate on behalf of the workforce.
The vote had a 73% turnout.
In April last year, Ineos said it was ending collective bargaining agreements at the plant after claiming the union had become “impossible to work with”.
There has been long-standing disputes at the plant, which is considered Scotland’s most important industrial site.
In 2013 it was announced the site would close, costing around 800 jobs, however that decision was later reversed resulting in a three-year pay freeze.
On today’s decision, Unite’s assistant general secretary Howard Beckett said: “I am delighted that after a long process Unite has emphatically won the trade union recognition ballots at INEOS.
“The margin of the result and the confidence shown in Unite will now enable us to collectively bargain on behalf of the entire workforce.”
The Grangemouth site is one of the largest oil and petrochemicals refineries in Europe, and accounts for eight percent of Scotland’s manufacturing base.
A spokesman for Ineos said: “Representation is an internal matter for our employees. We respect their choice to have a Union represent them in collective bargaining.”
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