Job fears over future of engineering plant
NICOLA Sturgeon was last night urged not to let a vital Scottish engineering plant become “an industrial graveyard”.
Unite Scotland leader Pat Rafferty spoke out after it emerged BiFab, or Burntisland Fabricators, are at risk of going into administration, with the loss of 600 jobs.
The firm have two yards in Fife and one at Arnish on the Isle of Lewis. They build large-scale equipment for the offshore oil and gas industry, as well as platforms for offshore wind turbines and tidal generators.
It’s understood the company have had cash flow problems linked to a contract for the Beatrice offshore wind farm in the Moray Firth. They have filed court papers with an intention to go into administration.
Unite said a contract wrangle with the Dutch holding company for the project has put the future of BiFab in doubt.
Rafferty said: “What we have here is a Scottish project for a Scottish energy company, sponsored partly by the Scottish Government which now has more than 600 jobs at stake.
“The Scottish Government cannot stand by and watch BiFab being turned into an industrial graveyard. Make no mistake, Unite and their sister unions will not let that happen.”
SNP Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse said he would be holding urgent meetings in a bid to find a solution.