“Grim news,” read the Reaper’s placard, “647 workers sacked”. Outside the Lindsey oil refinery in North Lincolnshire, trade unions held a mass rally in support of workers dismissed following a wildcat strike. The latest flare-up of the dispute began on 11 June: as one of the site’s subcontractors hired new staff, another was giving workers the sack. On Friday 19 June, the French oil giant Total announced that the Lindsey strikers would be dismissed; the following Monday, dismissal papers were burned outside the plant while workers across the UK walked out in sympathy.