Vestas

Vestas factory occupation, 2009. Read our pamphlet here.

Vestas: one year on

12 months ago, following a campaign by members of Workers’ Liberty and Workers’ Climate Action, workers at the Vestas wind turbine factory on the Isle of Wight occupied the plant against closure. The campaign became a focus for the left and the environmental movement, and showed how a working-class struggle for decent jobs could be combined with a perspective for environmentally-sustainable and socially-useful production. Former Vestas workers and their supporters on the island and elsewhere are still campaigning for jobs and justice. An AWL pamphlet telling the story of the dispute is...

"Workers are the power and strength we need"

Vestas occupier and activist Ian Terry who was in Copenhagen to speak at the Klimaforum and take part in Workers’ Climate Action activity against Vestas, spoke to Dan Rawnsley. You spoke in the Klimaforum on left alternatives to capitalism. How do you feel the meeting went? There seemed to be a lot more interesting conversations coming from the floor than the panel. It is good that a lot of people from different backgrounds and from all over the world were coming together and recognising that the climate issue is a left issue. But it felt like there was an absence of the Danish left. You were...

Climate activists challenge Vestas in Copenhagen

Workers Climate Action activists at the Copenhagen climate summit (7-18 December) marched in to the entrance hall of the 18th-century Odd Fellow palace, where the multinational wind turbine manufacturer Vestas was holding a drinks party, with banners and a megaphone. We remained there for around half an hour, chanting slogans and handing out leaflets to partygoers. Eventually Danish police arrived, without any of the event organisers confronting us first, and the protest was forced outside. We continued to use the megaphone to voice our opposition to Vestas’ appalling record on workers rights...

Now Vestas lays off wind turbine workers in USA

Fresh from closing down production on the Isle of Wight, in Britain, wind-turbine multinational Vestas has announced that it will lay off workers in Colorado, USA. It will also halt construction on new wind-turbine factories it was building in Colorado. Read more .

Bulletins from the Vestas Campaign

Three young members of the Alliance for Workers' Liberty headed up the Workers' Climate Action campaign to mobilise workers at the Vestas plants against the closure of the factories. We used the skills that we had been taught as members of Workers' Liberty to plan a campaign of agitation on the factory gates; and to write effective agitational materials to hand out to workers. These bulletins were the lynchpin of the intervention that we made in the first weeks of the campaign on the factory gates. They served as a 'prop' to initiate conversations with workers, to be sure - but they carried...

Vestas roundabout camp evicted

A "possession order" has been granted against protesters still camping on the roundabout outside the main Vestas factory on the Isle of Wight, but they say they will continue their fight to win redundancy money for the workers who occupied the factory in July-August. Workers occupied the wind turbine blade factory was occupied from 20 July to 7 August to stop job cuts - and succeeded in delaying them - and then blockaded the factory's "marine gate", to stop removal of wind turbine blades still stored there, until 22 September. Since 22 September protesters have continued to camp on the...

Ex-Vestas workers decide Trades Councils drive

A meeting called by the former Vestas workers in Newport, Isle of Wight, on Friday 9 October decided to take their campaign forward by a drive to revitalise and augment the local Trades Councils and turn them towards a campaign for jobs on the island. The first step is due to be a meeting called by the former Vestas workers on Thursday 15 October to discuss solidarity with the postal workers who may soon be taking national strike action over job cuts in their industry. Job cuts are also threatened in the local tax office and as a result of a local schools reorganisation. The Isle of Wight...

Vestas workers discuss next steps

The Vestas wind turbine blade workers on the Isle of Wight have called a meeting for Friday 9 October to discuss the future of their campaign for Friday 9 October. Vestas, a big Danish-based multinational, announced the close of their blade-manufacture operation on the Isle of Wight - the only sizeable one in Britain - on 28 April. The workers occupied the Newport factory from 20 July to 7 August to stop closure, and then blockaded it until the blockade was broken up by large numbers of police on 22 September. Mark Smith, one of the Vestas occupiers, told Solidarity that prospects on the...

Vestas: an exchange about campaign tactics

At the end of September, the Morning Star published a letter I wrote that reflected the different approaches taken by the SWP and the AWL to the Vestas dispute after the end of the occupation - AWL emphasised building the blockade of the factory, SWP, building the political campaign 'in the country'. Back the workers Sunday 27 September 2009 Readers will know by now that the Vestas company has removed most of the remaining blades from its Newport factory, using the might of the state to do it. Scores of police dismantled the marine gate blockade at 6am last Tuesday. Although we protested as...

Vestas: sparking the struggle, seeing it through

On 20 September, two days before police finally broke the Newport factory blockade, some of the AWL activists who have been involved in the Vestas campaign talked over the experience. This is a longer version of this text than in the printed paper. Geographically, Britain is specially well placed to use wind energy as a renewable, zero-emissions alternative to fossil fuels. On 15 July, Energy and Climate Change minister Ed Miliband published a White Paper about renewable energy which called for 7000 more wind turbines to be built. Yet Britain's only wind-turbine blade factories are two, owned...

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.