Total claims Lindsey dispute has cost £85m

Oil company Total said that a dispute involving hundreds of workers at the Lindsey refinery has cost £85m and was threatening a key construction project.
 
The Telegraph reported that the company was "actively encouraging" talks to try to resolve the dispute with around 650 construction workers it sacked last week after they took unofficial strike action to protest about threatened redundancies on the HDS-3 construction project.

"The HDS-3 project is now six months behind schedule and the delays, under performance and low productivity have already cost in the region of an additional €100m (£85m)," Total said in a statement.
 
"Further cost overruns will jeopardise the future viability of this important inward investment into the UK."

Around 3,000 workers at other energy plants are thought to have joined unofficial action in support for the Lindsey workers on Monday.