The article below is an excerpt from a speech given by a worker from the Vestas wind turbine factory on the Isle of Wight. Since July 20, Vestas workers launched an indefinite occupation of the plant in response to plans to close it by Danish company Vestas Windsystems. The speech is abridged from Savevestas.wordpress.com.
I've come today to speak about a little factory called St. Cross on the Isle of Wight — otherwise known as Vestas.
It is currently being occupied as it's due to close. Around 625 jobs will be lost at the three plants of St. Cross (Newport), Venture Quays (East Cowes) and Merlin Quays in Southampton (just across the water on the English mainland). There is also a resin factory called Gurit opposite us, which is reliant on Vestas and is currently discussing its options, although they do not look good.
Many other industries will suffer if Vestas ups and leaves, and many more jobs will go. The island's fragile economy will be plunged back 30 years into reliance upon the tourist trade with its low-paid, seasonal jobs.
We want to keep these factories open, even expand them and build new ones. But not because of our love for Vestas.
Vestas bought out NEG Micon in 2003, and since then things just got worse, as it tried to squeeze the last drop of work out of everyone, sapping them dry. Long hours in a highly stressful environment and fear of repetitive strain injury, among other conditions, have given it a very high staff turnover.
It is extremely anti-union and some workers who joined unions have been singled out and fired on various grounds. The nearest thing to a union is a "consultation network" imposed by European law, where supposedly elected representatives (in reality hand-picked by management) attend meetings where they have no input whatsoever.
The workers have been given an offer of a pitiful redundancy payout for all their years of conscientious labour, and this has not even been confirmed in writing. This is classic of these multinationals, and feelings on the Isle of Wight are running high.
Everybody threatened with unemployment for no reason other than one or other corporation's desire to move their capital around the world, or find the cheapest sources of non-unionised labour, or the newest set of government subsidies, is by necessity obligated to take action or fall by the wayside.
A change in mindset is spontaneously taking place all over the world, from South Korea to Enfield, from Paris to Chile. For too long have the corporations imposed their will on workers without a care for their livelihoods, families or dignity.
Now is the time, and achieving action is easier than we ever imagined.
Redundancy threat
At the end of April, the Vestas employees were gathered together and told they would all be at risk of redundancy. The factory was due to stop production at the end of July.
We had been told we were the most profitable factory Vestas had! We felt powerless and confused.
A few activists from Workers' Climate Action began leafleting the factory gates and talking to workers. A public meeting was called. From this, a small group of workers formed a committee and began talking about occupying the factory to prevent closure.
These workers began recruiting others to the plan, all the while trying to keep it secret from management.
Managers heard about possible direct action and went to one of the sites to attempt to persuade workers to sign a document against any such action. Only two workers signed.
We decided to strike quickly. Meeting up, 30 of us split into three groups and slipped into the factory unopposed.
Working quickly, we secured our chosen area — the management and administration offices at the front of the building. We had successfully outflanked the managers!
The next day the crowd started to gather outside; workers coming to work were turned away but stayed to show us support, the crowd building by the hour. The managers and police started to give us two-hour deadlines to leave, telling us trespass was a criminal offence.
We were threatened with private thugs storming the building and "being heavy handed with us".
By the end of the first day, things calmed down as the police and managers had exhuasted their threats to no effect.
Supplies were running low by lunchtime of day two. A big crowd had gathered outside to deliver food, demanding to be let through the police and private security lines. When they heard the police would not stop them, they threw food up to the balcony.
Food stopped
On day three, a seven-foot fence was erected around the site to stop food coming in. We hung a banner accusing management of trying to starve us. This looked bad for them with local and national media outside with a sizeable crowd, now in a semi-permanent camp.
Then, suddenly, they announced that they would provide food to us — although in minimal quantities.
On day three, transport union leader Bob Crow arrived and gave a rousing speech. He even told us a helicopter was on standby to air-drop food. An airplane flew low and circled, trailing a banner reading "Save our jobs, save our community!"
At the same time, an injunction was served on the occupiers. A mass demonstration was planned for the day of the hearing , July 29, outside the Magistrate's Court in Newport between 9 and 10am.
On day four, a march set off from Newport town centre. Six hundred people made their way up to the factory site in a show of support. Two workers travelled to London to address a meeting with unionists and climate campaigners. We raised almost a thousand pounds.
On day five, the occupiers were suffering from the lack of hot meals. This was relayed to the crowd outside, which surged forward, shaking the fence and shouting for food to be let in. Within 15 minutes, a hot meal of spaghetti bolognaise was provided by management.
This occupation is ongoing, and the support is building every day. We desperately need continued pressure on both the government and Vestas to retool this factory and keep it in operation.
It is the only blade manufacturer of wind turbines in Britain. The technology we have been so proud of developing is being shipped out.
We cannot afford to let this happen. We must stop it now.
None of us involved in this occupation ever thought we would do anything like this. We quickly realised that we were at the centre of a perfect storm; we had a golden opportunity to seize the factory and force the issues of green energy, job losses and corporate responsibility into the international spotlight.
We knew we had to step up and take action, as this was bigger than all of us put together.
Anyone that joins us in anyway is participating in a much wider movement. A movement that is truly global, sweeping across the planet and uniting environmentalists and workers as one force. The ecological and the trade union movement have long been divided by one's desire to protect all jobs, and the other's desire to scrap some and create others.
Now they have come together to demand the maintenance and creation of green jobs for all.
The Vestas factory occupation combines the two wills in one fight — for a cleaner, safer future. A future with jobs for all.