PROTESTORS are taking further action at a £250m energy site after a worker was seriously injured and staff continue to suffer pay woes, a union has said.

A demonstration will be held outside Sita Sembcorp UK’s waste-to-energy plant, in Wilton, near Redcar, later this week.

The Unite union says the move comes against Sita’s continuing refusal to respond to information requests, including updates on a man The Northern Echo understands needed hospital treatment for a hand injury.

It has also alleged calls to see contractor numbers and wages, and an interpreter for foreign staff, have been refused.

Sita last night denied the claims, saying its site is safe, with the accident, which it reported to the Health and Safety Executive, the first after hundreds of thousands of incident-free working hours.

It also said it has granted unions’ access, adding pay is equal or above national agreements.

However, Steve Cason, Unite regional officer, told The Northern Echo it was disappointed with management’s stance, with the one-day action starting at 6am on Thursday (April 30).

He said: “We have asked for a breakdown of contractors on site, the amount of people working for separate companies, and for an audit of wages being paid, but we are not getting any information.

“We are hearing there are not people qualified on site to do jobs, and separate to that, that a worker was in a serious accident last week, but we have been told nothing.

“We have also asked to take an interpreter on site for workers from Bulgaria, Croatia and Poland, but have been denied, with the company saying people can go through them.

“But why would they want to do that?

“They would want to do it anonymously, not stick their heads above the parapet."

The energy site, which will be operated by the Sita Sembcorp UK company, is expected to open in late 2016 and convert hundreds of thousands of tonnes of household waste from Merseyside into electricity and steam.

However, its construction has been met with significant union unrest.

In February, a large demonstration saw Unite, GMB and Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (Ucatt) members protest against low rates of pay for foreign workers and a lack of jobs for local workers.

Ucatt also previously alleged Sita was denying staff support over working conditions, due to management’s union restrictions.

However, a Sita spokesman, while acknowledging the accident, refuted the suggestions, adding the building process, which is being managed by joint venture company CNIM Clugston Wilton, was deemed exceptional by the Considerate Constructors Scheme.

He said: “Regrettably, an employee working for contractor Baldwin Crane Hire suffered a serious injury on Monday, April 20, while de-rigging a crane.

“One accident is one too many, but 602,545 man hours have been worked on the site without a reportable accident until now.

“Also, continued unfounded allegations about cheap foreign labour, or workers’ terms and conditions, do nothing to change the fact all workers, irrespective of their nationality, have rates of pay equivalent to or higher than each of the unions’ relevant national agreements.

“Agreement was also reached with unions and contractors in February to allow union access to the site to discuss pay and working conditions with staff, with interpreters provided by our principal contractor.

“However, the fact very few chose to speak to the unions while they were there is most likely because there are very few employment issues on site.”

The factory will create about 50 permanent jobs when work starts.