Even amid toughest economic times in decades, Britons laid off to give jobs to foreigners who will work for less

BRITONS LAID OFF TO GIVE JOBS TO FOREIGNERS Wednesday January 21,2009 Daily ExpressBy John Chapman BRITISH workers are furious that a floating hotel has been moored off the UK coast to house foreign labourers. They claim that skilled local men are being laid off and replaced with cheap labour from abroad. The giant accommodation barge, moored in Grimsby docks, will house hundreds of Italian migrants. A second barge is expected at the Humberside port next week. British workers at the nearby Lindsey Oil Refinery - Britain's third largest - say the migrants will be taking their jobs. The revelation follows the outrage over foreign construction teams allegedly being favoured at a new power station at Staythorpe, near Newark, Nottinghamshire. Staythorpe has been dubbed a "national scandal" by union leaders who claim that Poles, Spaniards and Portuguese are stealing the jobs of skilled British workers. In the latest oil refinery dispute, union officials are investigating reports that 90-day notices have been served on British workers so they can be replaced. The plant is run by French oil giant Total, which is allowed under EU law to undercut British wages by hiring employees from other member states. Union chiefs say the scandal makes a mockery of Gordon Brown's "British jobs for British workers" promise. [...]

Full Story