Scottish Government’s Fair Work Agenda is ‘big blow out’ within offshore wind
Scotland’s largest trade union body is claiming workers in the offshore industry are left “hanging in the wind” as companies given the green light from the Scottish Government through the ScotWind leasing process are failing to adhere to the Fair Work Agenda
The report ‘Employment and Corporate Practice in Scotland’s wind sector’ commissioned by the STUC and authored by Transition Economics, exposes systemic resistance to trade union recognition and collective bargaining across the sector.
From the 25 companies involved within the Scotwind project, only one part-returned the STUC’s call for evidence on Fair Work within the sector. Experiences from offshore workers noted increased health and safety risks and differing levels of pay when compared to workers in companies who recognise a workplace union.
STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer has criticised the Scottish Government and the companies involved within the Scotwind project, saying workers had been “ignored at every turn”.
The report comes as stakeholders, including the Scottish and UK Government, are set to meet at the Scottish Renewables offshore wind conference this coming Wednesday
Commenting, Ms Foyer said:
“The findings of this report are deeply troubling. Offshore wind developers are being given a green light to flout the Fair Work principles that are supposed to ensure good jobs and fair treatment.
“Our survey to all ScotWind developers got no full responses and the experience of trade unions on the ground is resistance at almost every turn. The Scottish Government had the opportunity to set higher standards in the sector through the ScotWind leasing process but, in the year the Government themselves had pledged to make us a Fair Work Nation by 2025, ministers have left workers hanging in the wind.
“It’s clear that without stronger government action and enforcement, Scotland’s renewable energy ambitions risk being built on a foundation of exploitation and inequality with workers concerns being ignored at every turn.
“That is something we cannot countenance and the recommendations of our report, which include the enforcement of Fair Work principles within the industry, a national stake in energy and wind projects and trade union access to the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council, must be actioned.
“If offshore wind is to be an opportunity to create good new jobs in the energy sector and reindustrialise our communities, it will require regulation, conditionality and a Scottish Government fully committed to their own principles of Fair Work.”
END
Notes to editors:
Trade unions officers were interviewed about their experience with the sector, and a survey was sent to all developers in the ScotWind leasing round.
The report shows:
- Workers experience with offshore wind has been poor, and that trade union efforts to organise and establish collective bargaining often resisted.
- Part of the challenge is structural, with offshore wind projects fragmented across different tiers of subcontracting and in some cases complicated further by companies encouraging workers to work in quasi self-employment.
- The lack of response to our survey and the track record of how the companies have treated workers and consumers shows many are unwilling to improve the situation - intervention (regulation and conditionality) is required.
The STUC is calling for the Scottish Government to:
- Facilitate tripartite negotiations with trade unions and wind industry representatives
- Set Fair Work and Just Transition conditions across leasing, planning applications, and public investment for offshore and onshore wind projects
- Build greater public ownership of new energy projects at a national and local level to drive higher standards and rebalance ownership away from multinationals
- Support reform of employment law to establish universal standards and minimum wage floors in the energy sector and create clearer structures for collective bargaining in the wind sector.
END
A full copy of the report can be viewed here:
https://www.stuc.org.uk/resources/fair-work-in-offshore-windfinal.pdf
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