Energy minister Ed Miliband has announced new government finance for wind-turbine construction, and extra public funds for the Vestas wind turbine company for investment.
According to the Guardian, Miliband says that all this is not intended to keep the Vestas wind turbine blade factories in the Isle of Wight - Britain's only such factories - open, but the announcement suggests he is under pressure.
The Guardian also reports Vestas as saying that "no final decision" about the factories will be made until 31 July.
The St Cross (Newport) factory has been occupied since Monday 20 July. Workers not involved in the occupation have been told by Vestas bosses to stay home on full pay, but are rallying outside the factory to support their workmates inside.
Vestas bosses have also told workers at the other factory, Venture Quays (East Cowes), to stay home, apparently for fear that they will occupy the factory if let into it.
The occupation is going strong, and the protest outside too. More and more supporters from outside are arriving to help the workers.
Whatever announcement the Vestas bosses make on 31 July, Vestas will not physically quit and shut the factories that day, since three-quarters of a million pounds' worth of blades remain unfinished within the factories, and even aside from that Vestas had already been planning to employ a "clean-up team" through August.
This battle will not end soon, unless Vestas bosses and the Government capitulate quicker than expected.
What you can do
- Come to the protest outside the Vestas factory - Monks Brook, St Cross Industrial Estate, Newport, Isle of Wight.
- Send messages of support from yourself or your organisation to savevestas@gmail.com.
- Send a donation from your trade union or other organisation, or make a personal donation: cheques payable to Ryde and East Wight Trades Union Council, 22 Church Lane, Ryde, Isle of Wight, PO33 2NB, or donate online via this link.
- Contact energy minister Ed Miliband. His e-address is here. His phone number in his Doncaster constituency is 01302 875 462, and at Westminster, 020 7219 4778. Flood him with calls for the Government to take over the Vestas factory and keep it producing, under new management.
- Organise a visible demonstration of solidarity. Take a photo with a placard that reads "Save Vestas Jobs" and email the photo to savevestas@gmail.com.
- Sign the petitions on the No.10 site and on the Friends of the Earth website.
The RMT, which many of the Vestas workers have now joined, has "called for a show of strength from trade unionists and environmental campaigners in what will be a crucial week for the workers involved in the occupation to stop the closure of the Vestas wind turbine factory on the Isle of Wight".
On Wednesday morning (29 July), the hearing seeking to evict the protesters will be heard at Newport County Court and a protest will be mobilised outside the court house [from 9.30am in Quay Street, Newport].
At 6pm on Wednesday there will be a further mass demonstration in support of the occupation outside the Vestas factory gates.
The company have set this Friday (31 July) as the deadline for closing the factory with the loss of 625 jobs.
Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, whose union represents a substantial number of the Vestas workforce, said today:
“I would urge all trade unionists and environmental campaigners to make every effort to step up the campaign for the Vestas workforce in what will be a crucial week for their campaign to stop the closure of the factory.”
“RMT will be continuing to apply pressure to Ed Miliband and the government to step in to prevent the axing of these 625 green jobs, a move which makes a mockery of the governments stated objectives on green employment and renewable energy.
“It’s scandalous that the company are threatening to physically drag the workers out of the factory this week and we need to send a message loud and clear that they have massive support for their actions both here in the UK and around the world. The Vestas workers are not criminals, the criminals are the companies who think they can axe jobs with no regard to the long term damage that they inflict on our communities.”
