Ineos ratchets up pressure on D-Day for Grangemouth He said there must be a significant enough groundswell of support for the shareholders to be convinced when they meet tomorrow that it is worth investing the £300 million needed for the site to have a long-term future. But around 400 of the 1,400 employees attended a rally yesterday at the refinery, with union leaders urging staff to boycott the ballot. Mr MacLean said the Stirlingshire plant is losing £10 million a month and described its future as "bleak" without investment in a new gas terminal. Even if half of them come back and say we support the company, the unions could take the other half out. There would not be sufficient people to run the plant and we would have to take it down," he said. This is more about sending a message to the shareholders and the unions that people on this site don't have an appetite for a strike. He accused Unite of "intimidatory tactics," including picketing outside employees" homes. Ineos shut down the plant last week in spite of the union calling off a planned 48-hour strike over the treatment of a convener because Unite refused to guarantee there would be no more walkouts this winter. Although the union has now agreed not to strike until the end of the year, Mr MacLean said he could not accept its demand that the company take its survival plan off the table and start negotiations from scratch. The firm is offering staff sweeteners worth up to £15,000 to accept the cuts to their conditions and around 250 "positive responses" had been received by Saturday night, he added. Mr MacLean praised Mr Salmond's failed attempt to broker a deal last week but said Ms Lamont was being "deeply irresponsible" by siding with the union. The Scottish Labour leader praised Unite's promise not to stage a strike, adding: "The company should now withdraw the ultimatums they have delivered to the workforce. This is not the way we should be engaging in workplace disputes in the 21st century. Speaking on the BBC's Sunday Politics Scotland programme, Mr Salmond urged Unite to make a "no strings" pledge not to strike, meaning the company's proposed cut in conditions would remain on the table. "Once that is done Ineos should fire up the plant and then the various discussions, negotiations, consultations on terms and conditions should take place against the background of a working plant, not a plant that is lying cold," he added. But Pat Rafferty, Unite's Scottish secretary, who attended the rally, said: "Anger is growing among workers and the company now risks destroying good Scottish jobs and a powerhouse of the Scottish economy." Once again I call on Ineos to drop the cynical blackmail, start the plant up and talk seriously about securing a future for Grangemouth.