HUNDREDS of workers at a North-East biomass power station could stage a second walkout next week if a resolution is not found in an oil refinery dispute, it was revealed last night.

Up to 1,000 workers helping to build the £250m Ensus plant, in Wilton, Teesside, yesterday staged an impromptu strike after turning up to work to learn that as many as 700 people had been sacked at the Lindsey site, in Lincolnshire, as a result of staging protests over redundancies.

Against the advice of unions, the Teesside workers – made up of shopfloor and blue collar employees – walked out in solidarity with the Lincolnshire workers, and in protest at the Lindsey site owner, Total.

It is the second time in two months the Ensus plant has been hit by a walkout, with up to 1,000 workers taking part in wildcat strikes that swept the country in May, centring around a dispute over contract labour.

In the protest over the Lindsey dispute, the Teesside workers were joined in their walkout by thousands more workers who left refineries in South Wales, Cheshire and West Yorkshire.

Last night, it emerged that a meeting is being held with Ensus employees on Monday morning, which could see a second walkout, depending on the outcome of negotiations at the Lindsey refinery, which got under way yesterday and are expected to continue over the weekend.

Jimmy Skivington, regional organiser for the GMB union, was at the Wilton plant yesterday morning when workers took the decision to leave, and said he could not rule out a repeat on Monday.

“I was due to go down to the plant anyway to give them an update on the Lindsey situation, but instead I had to brief them with the news that their colleagues in Lincolnshire had been sacked,” he said.

“Feelings were running incredibly high, and the decision was taken for them to leave for the day. This was not something endorsed by the unions, as we have to stick to the laws of the land and do things through the proper procedures, but the feeling at the plant was very, very strong that they wanted to take immediate action to show support.

“We will meet the workforce again on Monday morning, and we will look at what has happened over the weekend with the negotiations at Lindsey. What happens will depend on what has happened at Lindsey.

“I would love to be able to say we wouldn’t have a repeat of the walkout, but I couldn’t say that for certain. Hopefully, everything will be resolved by then, but I just don’t know.”

The situation at Lindsey – which has been turbulent since a dispute over the use of foreign labour in February – escalated yesterday morning, with about 700 construction contractors being sacked.

The workers had been building an additional plant next to the Total site, but withdrew their labour last week in protest at a sub-contractor axing 51 jobs, while another employer on the site was hiring people.

The workers claimed this broke an agreement not to cut jobs while there were vacancies elsewhere on the site, but Total said no such agreement was in place.

Last night, Mr Skivington said the GMB union believed the situation had been handled badly by Total, but hoped a resolution could be found over the weekend.

“This really does not seem to have been handled very well, but now at least the parties are round the negotiating table.

“You could say that the horse has already bolted, but a lot depends on what happens from here on in, including what action, if any, the workers on Teesside decide to take on Monday,” he said.