An open letter to Jim Ratcliffe, Ineos` owner

An open letter to
Jim Ratcliffe, Ineos’ owner
Mr Ratcliffe,
You and your investor friends are seriously rich
people. You inhabit another world – of tax havens
and luxury yachts.
Tonight, behind closed doors you and your investors
will make a decision that could place a world class
facility and thousands of livelihoods in jeopardy.
The world is watching.
Grangemouth is the powerhouse of our economy,
providing 1400 skilled local jobs and thousands
more across the nation.
In the changing energy world it should be central to
our nation’s energy security.
Yet YOU and your management team, certainly not the
workers or their union, Unite, have closed this plant.
Why? Your claims of supposed `financial distress’
simply do not stack up:
Ineos’ chemicals business is predicted to make
£500m profit in next few years, according to your
own accounts;
Your sales are up 50 per cent, gross profits by 20 per
cent and your operating profits by 56 per cent.
You have relocated to five tax havens around the
globe. You seem to have avoided paying a penny in
tax to this nation for four years.
Explain then to the Scottish people why you are
acting in such an irresponsible manner, wreaking
havoc on our economy and a whole community.
You certainly have not put Scotland, a country which
has helped make you a very wealthy man, first. Your
actions shame the business world.
There are calls from across the community to reopen this plant. Only you stand in the way of this.
So we again urge you, stop now. We have told you
repeatedly – drop your threats to the workforce and
there will be no industrial action. Get back to the
negotiating table. Work with us to secure
the bright future for Grangemouth that
it deserves.
The world is watching, Mr Ratcliffe.
The labour costs at Grangemouth are already low,
less than 17 per cent of turnover, yet you want to
attack pensions and wages;
Ineos is worth around £40 billion and made a profit
of £2 billion last year alone.
Len McCluskey, Unite General Secretary Pat Rafferty, Unite Scottish Secretary
www.unitetheunion.org