THE founder of Ineos was jeered by striking workers today as he visited the Grangemouth oil refinery on the second day of a bitter dispute over pensions.
Employees on the picket line booed and chanted as Jim Ratcliffe left the Scottish site this afternoon.
The 55-year-old billionaire chairman had travelled to Grangemouth this morning for meetings, Ineos said.
His visit came as extra supplies of
fuel began arriving in Scotland.
Around 65,000 tonnes of fuel are being shipped in to ease pressure on the forecourts in the wake of the 48-hour walkout.
Workers will return to the plant at 6am tomorrow although it could take some time for normal operations to resume.
The Unite union has not called for any fresh strikes but says Ineos needs to halt proposed pension changes if talks are to continue.
The two sides held negotiations last week at the conciliation service Acas but they collapsed without agreement.
First Minister Alex Salmond was preparing for a possible meeting with Gordon Brown to discuss the strike.
The Prime Minister's spokesman said efforts were being made to arrange a meeting between the two.
A spokesman for Mr Salmond said: "Mr Brown's diary is a bit tight, but if it's possible the First Minister would obviously want to talk."
It is believed it would be the first such meeting between the two leaders since Mr Brown arrived in Number 10 in June last year.
Meanwhile, UK Business Secretary John Hutton will visit Scotland tomorrow.
He will meet fuel industry representatives and retailers to discuss the situation and thank them for their work to keep supplies moving.
Mr Hutton insisted both Governments were doing all they could to get Unite and Ineos management back around the negotiating table.
The MP told BBC Radio Scotland: "We're doing all we can here, and I know the Scottish ministers are doing the same as well, to try and create that space for the two sides to come together again and try and sort this out.
"We're talking to both sides. I spent some of the weekend talking to the trade unions and the company and I stand ready to have further discussions later today.
"My principal responsibility to the people of Scotland is to make sure that if there is disruption that we minimise the impact of that and we do all we can to make sure that the Scottish economy and Scottish motorists are not inconvenienced."
In the north of Scotland, a tanker carrying 3,000 tonnes of diesel and kerosene from Grangemouth docked at Aberdeen last night.
The fuel will be distributed to filling stations across the region.
There were some shortages at the weekend following several days of motorists rushing to fill up their tanks.
Unite's Phil McNulty told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "We don't want to go on strike again and we shouldn't be put in a position where we have to.
"We are faced with a very, very aggressive employer that, quite frankly, we are not used to in the oil industry and not used to in strategic industries that are as important as this one."
Mr McNulty said that if Ineos "removed its intention" to close the pension scheme on August 1 then the union would re-enter talks.
"We will negotiate very hard, but we will negotiate," he said.
Tom Crotty, chief executive of Ineos, claimed the company had made a number of concessions to the union to keep members at the negotiating table.
Scotland's justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill, welcomed police reports of "exemplary" behaviour on the Grangemouth picket line.
Mr MacAskill said: "It was heartening to hear from the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland that union members are showing exemplary conduct at Grangemouth.
"I also understand that employers Ineos have helped by providing facilities for those on the picket line."
The full article contains 655 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
