Motion 5
Shipbuilding & Defence - Delivering the Skills for Tomorrow
“That this Congress proudly marks the 55-year anniversary of the beginning of the UCS work-in led by Jimmy Reid which successfully secured the future of shipyards and shipbuilders along the River Clyde for decades to come; and recognises that for shipyards and shipbuilders to have a bright future, they need ships to build.
“Congress welcomes the renewal of the Royal Navy fleet which will see thousands of shipbuilders kept in well paid, high skilled work for years on Type 26 and Type 31 frigates in Glasgow and Rosyth respectively; but recognises a large skills gap in the workforce which can only be filled with a nation-wide recruitment of Apprentices backed by state of the art facilities, based in local areas.
“Congress recognises that Ferguson Marine (FMPG) has been a source of highly skilled, well paid employment for generations; welcomes the recognition of the workforce’s skills through further awards of defence work; but recognises that the yard can build its own ships in its own right, demonstrated by decades of world class shipbuilding; believes that both the Scottish and UK Governments have a role to play in securing the future of the yard; and therefore condemns the decision by the UK Government to award a £200million contract to build 24 Royal Navy support vessels in China and Vietnam.
“Congress calls on:
- the Scottish Government to issue a direct award for the Small Vessels Replacement Programme II and the Lord of the Isles to FMPG;
- the UK Government to issue a direct award of tugboats to FMPG; and
- both governments to invest in building onsite Apprentice Training Centres in yards across Scotland; and
- all shipbuilding employers to dramatically and rapidly increase the enrolment of Apprentices in all trades so that Scottish workers may benefit from these builds.”
Mover: GMB
RSS