The sit-in started today at the Saltend biofuels plant this morning after workers heard that peace talks at conciliation service ACAS broke down last night.

GMB union leaders will host a meeting of engineering construction shop stewards from across the country next week to discuss the deterioration in industrial relations.

The union has also donated £100,000 to a hardship fund for the 430 Saltend workers who lost their jobs last month.

The workers were employed by Redhall Engineering Solutions to carry-out pipework at the plant but Redhall’s contract was terminated by the BP-led client consortium Vivergo Fuels following a dispute over performance.

Workers were hoping to be taken on by a replacement contractor or direct by the client but nothing has been sorted leaving them in limbo and unpaid since early March.

The GMB is vowing to step-up its publicity campaign over the protest and will stage a demonstration outside the BP AGM on Thursday.

Les Dobbs, GMB Senior Organiser said: “The employers walked out of the ACAS talks yesterday although the unions were prepared to continue talking to try to resolve this dispute. GMB will now press ahead with the protest outside BP’s AGM on Thursday.

“BP and Vivergo know that the site can not be finished until the work done by the Redhall workforce restarts.

“Unions want guarantees that this work will be offered to the locked out workers – who have TUPE rights to this work – but we have had no such guarantees.”