Unite the Union to protest Grangemouth 'catastrophe' at Scottish Labour conference

Four hundred yellow hard hats will be laid out near the door of the Scottish Labour conference to represent jobs being lost at the Grangemouth oil refinery.

The stunt by the trade union Unite coincides with the start of the party’s conference at the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow on Friday.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham will tell a rally that the UK and Scottish governments have failed the workers at Grangemouth.

She will say: “The Labour Government, these Labour politicians, and the Scottish Government are on the verge of colluding in a catastrophe.

“Last week Anas Sarwar told us sorry “Labour hadn’t done enough for Grangemouth”.

“Now, this week, John Swinney announces a transition fund which accepts closure. You might as well call it the post-closure fund.

“If Grangemouth goes, these Labour and SNP politicians will never be forgiven, or forgotten”.

Earlier this week, First Minister John Swinney pledged a further £25m to secure a “just transition” for Grangemouth, calling on the UK Government to match the Scottish Government’s funding.

That came after redundancy letters were sent out to staff at the oil refinery owned by Petroineos – with some 65 of around 500 jobs expected to be retained.

It was announced last year that the central Scotland facility would close and transition to become an import terminal, as Petroineos reported massive losses at the refinery.

A £1.5m report into the feasibility of Grangemouth becoming a low-carbon energy hub, known as Project Willow, is due to be published by the end of the month.

Swinney announced the new funding in a statement to the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday, saying it would come from ScotWind revenues in a budget amendment.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar will address the conference on Friday afternoon, where he is expected to say that clearing the NHS backlog and reducing waiting times would be Scottish Labour’s first priority from day one in power.

Last month, he was repeatedly questioned by STV News political editor Colin Mackay about whether he had let down the workers at Grangemouth.

Sarwar said: “It’s really important here that we recognise the concerns in the Grangemouth community, that we are working hard to deliver a positive transition for the community in Grangemouth and the industrial site.

“This is a privately-owned company and we have to try and attract positive investment.

“I would emphasise that Labour has been in government for six months. The previous Tory government and this SNP government have known this was coming five years earlier and they had no plan in place to secure a positive future.

“I look forward to being in government in May 2026 and proactively working to get deals done for Scotland and delivering for the people of Grangemouth and the whole of Scotland.”