The environment

Stuff about nature etc.

Who will win green socialism: workers, or a vague alliance?

Paul Hampton reviews “The global fight for climate justice” (ed. Ian Angus) I knew this book was going to be a mish-mash after Derek Wall wrote in his foreword that he was pleased it included a contribution from Hugo Blanco, “who was one of Che Guevara’s contemporaries”. Blanco led a peasant uprising in 1961 as a Trotskyist. Guevara was at the time a leading member of a government that was locking up Trotskyists. Perhaps Wall missed Guevara’s comment, made in December 1964: “The Trotskyists have contributed nothing to the revolutionary movement and where they did most, which was in Peru, they...

Vestas: "The strength of standing together"

Ian Terry, one of the workers who occupied the factory from 20 July to 7 August, spoke to Solidarity on 9 September. We're stopping the blades from going out from the St Cross factory because we believe they're our blades, from our factory, and we would like to see them put up in our country. I think it's difficult to stop them getting out, but people are motivated to do it. We're getting more and more people each day willing to help us, as local people walk past the picket [which is on the cycle path from Newport to Cowes] and talk to us about it. I also want to see an overall fight for jobs...

Vestas workers keep up blockade: day of solidarity 17 September

Vestas bosses moved four wind turbine blades from their Venture Quays factory, in East Cowes, on Friday 4 September, but backed off from moving the nine blades in the St Cross factory, in Newport, after workers and supporters picketed the "marine gate" there. The blades are those left unfinished when workers occupied the factory on 20 July to oppose Vestas bosses' plans to close the factories - Britain's only wind-turbine blade factories - and to demand that the Government nationalise the factories, upgrade the production processes, and save the jobs. Since bailiffs evicted the occupiers on 7...

Picket makes Vestas back off on moving blades

Vestas bosses moved four wind turbine blades from their Venture Quays factory, in East Cowes, on Friday 4 September, but backed off from moving the nine blades in the St Cross factory, in Newport, after workers and supporters picketed the "marine gate" there. The blades are those left unfinished when workers occupied the factory on 20 July. After bailiffs evicted the occupiers on 7 August, workers continued picketing the factory against the movement of those blades and other materials from the site. The blades have to go by barge, within about two hours either side of high tide ( click here...

Urgent mobilisation for Vestas, Friday 4 September

Vestas bosses are probably going to try to move wind turbine blades on Friday 4 September, from their factory at St Cross industrial estate, Newport, Isle of Wight. Workers are rallying to picket the movement. The blades are those left unfinished when workers occupied the factory on 20 July. After bailiffs evicted the occupiers on 7 August, workers continued picketing the factory against the movement of those blades and other materials from the site. Our information is that Vestas bosses now have the blades ready to move, and have given starting order to the two barges which transport the...

Vestas workers need support in the Isle of Wight this week

Our best information is that Vestas may try to ship out the wind-turbine blades left in their factories in the Isle of Wight soon, probably this week (31 Aug - 4 Sep). Protest against the movement of those blades, and of the moulds which Vestas also wants to move, is the chief leverage that the workers have with Vestas. Around 11 blades, worth about three quarters of a million pounds, were unfinished on 20 July when workers occupied the St Cross factory, to resist closure, and bosses sent home workers from the Venture Quays for fear that factory would be occupied too. Now - according to our...

The Vestas workers' struggle

For a full list of all stories on this website about Vestas, click here . Key articles below: What you can do - practical solidarity The story so far - timeline 28 April to 18 August Why wind turbine production should be publicly owned - Government minister Joan Ruddock challenged face-to-face on her "principles" Workers and supporters speak out - interviews on 14 and 15 August Organise, debate, unite in action: Building the broader campaign - discussion of the contribution of the activists from the mainland who rallied to the picket lines (20 August) An activist's diary: how the campaign...

Vestas - Direct action will be needed, we are asking for help with that - Mark Smith

Direct action will be needed. We are asking for help with that Mark Smith, one of the Vestas occupiers, spoke at a Workers’ Liberty meeting in London on Tuesday 25th August. For a full list of all stories on this website about Vestas, click here . Key stories: What you can do - practical solidarity The story so far - timeline 28 April to 18 August Why wind turbine production should be publicly owned - Government minister Joean Ruddock challenged face-to-face on her "principles" Workers and supporters speak out - interviews on 14 and 15 August Organise, debate, unite in action: Building the...

Vestas bosses seek to ship blades

The wind-turbine-making multinational Vestas, which currently faces a fight by workers in its blade factories in the Isle of Wight (Britain's only wind-turbine-blade factories) against moves to shut those factories, has started rapidly shipping blades from stock in Southampton to the USA. Two ships carrying 90 blades each have sailed from Southampton this week (17-21 August), and a third is currently being loaded with 109 blades. According to the Vestas workers' contacts in Southampton docks, another two sailings are scheduled soon. Around 11 blades - worth over three quarters of a million...

Students: Our generation needs the future jobs

Lanah Moody is a student at Ryde High School. Her father Justin Moody was one of the occupiers at the Newport factory. The last three weeks have been incredible. I’ve not really had anything to do with environmental activists and all the political groups before, and it has opened my eyes. Reading the socialist papers, I now know that we don’t realise how much happens, all over the world, that we don’t hear in the mainstream news. And I’ve seen how hypocritical it is, the way the Government is running the country. My dad did talk to me about it before he went into the occupation, but at first I...

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