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Oil refinery workers accused boss Ineos of "playing Russian roulette" with fuel supplies as they prepared to kick off industrial action today.
More than 1,000 staff at Ineos's Grangemouth refinery were set to start an overtime ban and work-to-rule over the victimisation of Unite union convener Stevie Deans.
The union has called for an emergency summit with Scottish ministers and parliamentary debate to prevent the company's plans for layoffs and slashing of pay and conditions.
The action is expected to slow down maintenance work at Grangemouth, but Unite has not ruled out escalating the dispute to a complete walkout, following a landslide vote for strike action.
Unite Scottish secretary Pat Rafferty accused Ineos of using the Deans dispute as an excuse to introduce sweeping reforms.
Mr Deans - who also chairs the Falkirk constituency Labour party - was accused of dodgy dealings during the campaign to select a parliamentary candidate to replace disgraced MP Eric Joyce.
He was cleared of wrongdoing by a Labour Party probe, police investigation and even by Ineos.
But the petrochemical firm put Mr Deans back in the frame, accusing him of breaching company policy and misusing resources.
The union has been clear that the firm is victimising a workplace organiser who was instrumental in the two-day strike at Grangemouth in 2008.
Mr Rafferty said: "The company is holding Stevie Deans hostage, and playing Russian roulette with fuel supplies.
"We are trying to make the company see sense, but we are not ruling anything out at this stage," he said.
The crisis follows news on Friday that Ineos Petrochemicals had written off its chemical plant at the Grangemouth site as "effectively worthless," with plans to close in 2017.
Meanwhile Ineos chief executive Ashley Reed yesterday confirmed the loss of 18 jobs as it closed a second plant in Hull - for which Grangemouth had been a major ethylene supplier.
Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney said his office was "in active discussions" with both Ineos and the unions, but declined to comment further.
