It has been confirmed that the planned strike at the Grangemouth oil refinery has been called off - ending the prospect of big fuel shortages in Scotland.
The decision was announced by the Unite union following talks which continued through the night with the site's owners at the conciliation service Acas, even though the discussions failed to resolve their bitter row over the treatment of a union convenor.
The meeting broke up at 5am, Unite said, because of "scandalous behaviour" by Ineos but claimed its decision to abandon the 48-hour stoppage, due to begin on Sunday, was in the interest of protecting a national asset.
Unite's Scottish Secretary Pat Rafferty said: "We are outraged that Ineos representatives walked away from Acas talks, after 16 hours of negotiation and on the cusp of an agreement, for the ludicrous reason that Ineos chairman Jim Ratcliffe instructed his management representatives to demand an apology on his behalf.
"Acas representatives informed us that we could not conclude an agreement to take to our members because a list of fresh demands were placed upon us and because 'Jim wants an apology' and that this was 'a deal-breaker'.
Ineos says Grangemouth is run at a loss "I have never came across anything like this in over 30 years of employment relations and it is utterly reprehensible," he said.
Unite accused Ineos of running the Grangemouth refinery and petrochemical sites into a "damaging cold shutdown" which will impact on fuel production and supply across Scotland.
Mr Rafferty continued: "As a result, Unite will now call off all industrial action with immediate effect in order to protect this national asset from the scandalous behaviour ofits owner.
"The plant should now start the return to full production and there is no excuse for this not happen."
Petrol and diesel production was suspended at the plant on Monday night in preparation for Sunday's walkout.
Experts had warned that the stoppage raised the prospect of shortages if the dispute was not resolved as all of Scotland's needs are met through supplies from Grangemouth.
The row centred on alleged unfair treatment of plant worker, Stephen Deans, who is also a union official while the union and company were also arguing over terms and conditions at the plant.
Ineos had previously warned the petrochemical site would have to close by 2017 unless a "survival plan" involving cutting pension entitlement and pay was implemented.
The company argued that the refinery, located on the Firth of Forth, was not profitable - losing more than £576m in the last four years.
It claimed the pension scheme was £200m in deficit and pension costs of 65% of salary were "unsustainable".
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