Defending jobs

At the hearing in Newport, IoW, on 29 July, the judge refused to grant Vestas a "possession order" for the occupied factory, and adjourned the case to 4 August.

The BBC is reporting that Vestas management have sacked the 11 workers involved in the occupation that they have so far been able to identify. After coordinating a police blockade to prevent any food from getting to the occupying workers, Vestas management eventually relented and have been delivering food (initially only cold, pre-packaged food in insufficient quantities) to the workers. Tonight, dismissal letters were delivered with the evening pizza. Mike, an occupying worker, said "it's not going to deter us and we're not going to leave. We're not doing this for us now, we're doing this for...

Ed Maltby, for Workers' Climate Action , responds to Energy Minister Ed Miliband's excuses and evasions about the Vestas wind turbine blade factories in the Isle of Wight. This also appears in the Guardian . Ed Miliband’s letter to the Guardian is a sorry attempt to excuse the irresponsible behaviour of Vestas management in closing the Isle of Wight plants. It seems that Miliband and his government are more prepared to defend the interests of big business than to solve the problem of climate change and keeping people in work. Miliband makes Vestas CEO Ditlev Engel’s arguments for him: that...

The workers' occupation, since 20 July, at the Vestas wind turbine factory at Newport, Isle of Wight, is the centre for now of both the fight for jobs and the fight for a sustainable future for the planet. Read more about it: All Vestas stories on this website Basic background article Save Vestas jobs campaign website Further reading on workplace occupations, workers' control and the idea of a 'workers' government' 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...

Last Sunday’s demonstration in Kilmarnock against the threatened closure of the Diageo bottling plant in the town was a massive display of opposition to the company’s plans. Press reports put a figure of 20,000 on the number of demonstrators. Diageo is the world’s biggest drinks company, with a total worldwide workforce of 22,000. Its brands include Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Smirnoff and Captain Morgan. Its profits over the last decade have averaged £2 billions a year. In the twelve months to July of this year, its pre-tax profits amounted to £2.093 billions, only a fraction lower than the £2...

AWL bulletin #2 for the campaign to save jobs at the Vestas wind turbine blade factories in the Isle of Wight. Download pdf (see "attachment", below).

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...

PDFs to download here

The occupation of the Vestas Blades factory in Newport on the Isle of Wight continues. Heavy-handed police involvement has complicated the situation for the occupiers but a constant rolling picket outside has been maintained. Tuesday 21st July Police and management appeared to be working extremely closely with one another yesterday, with the factory sealed off by officers - production having been cancelled for the day. Police attempted to persuade workers to go home on an individual basis, using specifically chosen wording to make it appear that they had powers of arrest over anyone attempting...

Tuesday 21 July Vestas workers speak out "As workers at a wind turbine manufacturer, we were confident that as the recession took hold that green or renewable energy would be the area where many jobs could be created - not lost. So we were horrified to find out that our jobs were moving abroad and that more than 525 jobs from the Isle of Wight and Southampton were going to be added to the already poor state of island unemployment. This has sent, and will continue to send, shockwaves of uncertainty through countless families on the island - many of which are being forced to relocate away from...