workers walk out over safety fears. Gran Bretaña, Times Online, Febrero 16, 2010. Recuperado el: 15 de febrero de 2010. Disponible en: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/indu strials/article7028743.ece

From Times Online February 16, 2010

Power station workers walk out over safety fears

(Rui Vieira/PA Wire) A demonstration was staged and roads were blocked near the site of power station in

Staythorpe power station was once again the centre of controversy today after hundreds of workers walked off a construction site after an alleged health and safety breach.

As many as 500 employees at the plant, which is currently under construction near Newark, in Nottinghamshire, staged a demonstration and blocked roads near the site after walking off.

However, Alstrom, the main contractor on the site, said the protests, which it said were unofficial and not supported by unions, were over by midday. It added that an independent assessment of the allegations found there was no evidence there was a problem.

The allegations had centred around allegations some scaffolding had been interferred with.

Andy Fletcher, of the GMB union, said: “This is a very serious matter for the industry.

“The UK construction industry safety record is very good, but unless issues such as this are addressed and sorted out, it will not retain that reputation for long and people will be hurt.”

The action comes after a dispute earlier this year at the plant over a difference in pay for British and Italian contractors after it emerged that Italian construction workers building the gas-fired power station for RWE had been paid on average £1,140 a month less than their British colleagues.