Ministers to look at 'distorted' EU employment law.

(From Guardian Unlimited)

The way European Union employment regulations are working in the UK needs to be reviewed, cabinet ministers said today as they braced for another wave of protests over the awarding of construction contracts to foreign workers.

Alan Johnson, the health secretary and a former union leader, claimed that rulings from the European court of justice could have "distorted" the intention of EU legislation meant to ensure that employers cannot circumvent national rules about pay and conditions by bringing in employees from abroad.

In an interview broadcast today, Gordon Brown said the unofficial action - described as "more like protests than strikes" by one Whitehall official - was "not defensible". But the government is anxious not to antagonise the unions or the workers they represent and today Johnson and Jack Straw, the justice secretary, both said that the dispute may have identified a legitimate grievance.

The protests on Friday "did not have any impact on the security of fuel supply", according to officials.

But ministers are monitoring the situation and hope that the conciliation service Acas, which will today start its investigation into the origins of the dispute at the Lindsey refinery on the Humber estuary, will be able to present its initial findings to the business secretary, Lord Mandelson, in the next few days.

In an interview on the BBC's Andrew Marr show, Johnson said he could understand the anger of the protesters.