September 17th saw a National Day of Action in support of the ongoing campaign to Save Vestas and demand for Green Jobs. Groups from cities around the country including Birmingham, Cardiff, Newcastle and Manchester organised a visible demonstration of solidarity for the 600 Vestas workers who lost their jobs over the summer when the government refuse to bail out the only wind turbine manufacturers in the UK despite its continued promise in investing in ‘greener energy production’.

Two days prior to this, protesters occupied cranes and vessels at Southampton docks. Coming from the Vestas factory blockade on the Isle of Wight, the group aimed to prevent the loading of wind-turbine blades from the Newport plant.
“We made these blades, and now Vestas want to take their profits and leave us high and dry,” explained ex-Vestas worker Jamie Rigby, one of 11 workers sacked for occupying their factory after Vestas announced the mass lay-off in July. The occupation ended in August after 18 days, and it was Jamie who leapt uninjured from a balcony rather than be escorted out by bailiffs.

Supporters from the island’s community, climate activists and workers from the mainland, hung banners saying ‘Wind power to the people’ and locked themselves to a crane loading blades onto the BBC Ohio in Empress Dock. Others occupied the so-called ‘Blade Runner’ Barge which is needed to transport the remaining blades from the St Cross factory in Newport with a banner that read ‘Our blades, Our power’.

An occupier on the crane at Empress Dock, Jackie Sheedy commented: “After the factory occupation ended, Vestas and the government hoped we’d all just quieten down. But we’re united in this blockade. The island workers need those jobs, and we all need them if we want even a chance of combating climate change for our children.”

Speaking from the occupied Blade Runner barge, Robin Sivapalan, a Unison member from the group Workers Climate Action, said: “Workers like Jamie were victimised and robbed of their redundancy pay for taking a stand. If Vestas want the blockade lifted, they had better start talking about re-instatement and terms. And if the government want the protests to end they had better drop the greenwash and start taking some real action for a renewable power industry in this country.”
Meanwhile, other sacked Vestas workers are at the TUC conference in Liverpool, lobbying the labour movement for solidarity action and support on Thursday’s National Day of Action.