United Kingdom (UK)

By Barry Edwards - Nautilus International, April 28, 2023

Nautilus member Barry Edwards is speaking out after he and his fellow seafarers lost their jobs due to the Offshore Wind Workers Concession (OWWC). The visa concession is due to end on 30 April.

‘I got laid off twice last year because of this waiver. When you ask the company why, the answer you get is that they can get two people from abroad for the price of one of you,’ he said.

‘The first time it happened I was cheesed off, the second time I just thought “this is crazy, how can the British government allow this to happen?”’

On the second occasion, Mr Edwards was one month into a six-month contract when the waiver was renewed at the last minute, which caused the company to let its existing contractors go.

Mr Edwards describes the pay, terms and conditions offered to international crew as ‘horrendous’. ‘These guys are doing 12-hour shifts for £900 per month, which is just over UK National Minimum Wage rates for highly trained maritime professionals. The seafarers spend four to five months onboard at a time, without any shore leave, which saves employers money on travel costs. I don’t think that’s fair, especially if they’re working within the 12-mile limit.

‘The transport secretary and minister for shipping are saying there’s a shortfall in British seafarers – but this cheap employment is the real reason.’

Recently, Mr Edwards was offered another job in offshore wind by the same company that laid him off – though this time via an agency. He decided not to accept and has taken a different job outside the offshore wind industry.

‘When I got laid off for the second time, I thought about leaving the whole game – I thought, I can’t keep doing this, being offered a contract for six months and then being told to leave after a month,’ he said.

‘I don’t trust what’s going on. The government hasn’t said it will renew [the OWWC], but at the minute I’m not confident enough to accept a job in offshore wind and then be told the rules have been changed and I’m back to square one.

‘I’d like the government to put an end to all this completely and stop messing seafarers around.’

By Paul Atkins - Extinction Rebellion Trade Unions, April 28, 2023

By Suzanne Jeffery - Extinction Rebellion Trade Unions, April 26, 2023

By Rosemary - Extinction Rebellion Trade Unions, April 24, 2023

By Jon Queally - Common Dreams, April 22, 2023

"As the government continues to fan the flames of the climate and biodiversity crisis it's clear that only a collective effort can put it out," said the head of Greenpeace UK.

Tens of thousands demonstrated with a defiant yet jubilant spirit in London on Saturday to mark the second day of 'The Big One' climate protests aimed at getting the U.K. government to finally take bold action on the planetary emergency of greenhouse gas emissions.

A nonviolent die-in action was held outside Parliament, but the day of demonstration was billed as a "family-friendly" day of action meant to foster inclusion and participation as opposed to disruption or civil disobedience.

By staff - Morning Star, April 12, 2023

UNION leaders are calling for new investment to meet net-zero targets, saying it would create high-quality jobs in transport and manufacturing.

The TUC has set out an investment plan for public transport across England and Wales, arguing it would improve quality of life and boost the economy.

The union organisation says its proposals fill a gaping hole in the government’s recently published net-zero strategy, which it claims fails to explain how it will achieve a shift away from car use.

The TUC says its plan would require an average of £9.9 billion in annual capital expenditure up to 2035.

Extra operating costs for expanded bus, tram and rail services would reach £18.8bn a year by 2030, its report, published today, says.

The plan is estimated to boost annual economic growth by £52.1bn by 2030 through productivity gains, creating 140,000 jobs in the bus, tram, and rail sectors.

A further 830,000 jobs would be created in manufacturing, construction, and infrastructure for buses and trams up to 2035, says the TUC.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “Everyone knows that we have to cut carbon emissions and that switching to public transport is a big part of how do it.

“Investing in public transport will help us meet net-zero targets and reduce the threat of catastrophic climate change, and it creates jobs throughout England and Wales, boosts the economy in every community and improves everyone’s quality of life.

“Commuters will have faster and cheaper journeys to work. New connections will bring new businesses to places where people need economic opportunities.

“We will save lives with cleaner air, and we will reduce loneliness and isolation by making everyone better connected, wherever you live.

“With this report, we’ve done the work that Conservative ministers should have done with their empty and incompetent net-zero strategy.”

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch, who will be speaking at the launch of the report today, said it shows that investing in public transport is vital for fighting climate change and delivering significant economic and social benefits.

He said: “This report shows that there is an alternative where we can expand and invest in our transport infrastructure.

“It is therefore vital that bus and rail services all run as a public service under a public ownership model which is free from profit-hungry multimillion-pound private companies.”

By staff - National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), April 12, 2023

RMT responds to TUC transport and climate change report.

Responding to the TUC Public Transport for the Climate Emergency report, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: "This is a welcome report that shows investing in public transport is not only vital for fighting climate change but that it will deliver significant economic and social benefits for everyone.

"The government - in league with private transport operators, are ideologically committed to securing the maximum profit for shareholders. This approach is leading to the managed decline of rail and bus services across the country.

"This report shows that there is an alternative where we can expand and invest in our transport infrastructure. This will create thousands of jobs in across every region of England and Wales, helping build strong local economies and at the same time, secure an environmentally sustainable future.

"It is therefore vital that bus and rail services all run as public service under a public ownership model which is free from profit hungry multimillion pound private companies."

The full report can be viewed here.

By Liz Blackshaw; Gareth Forest; Kamaljeet Gill, et. al. - Trades Union Congress (TUC), April 11, 2023

Public transport has a vital role to play in decarbonising our economy and safeguarding a planet fit for our children and grandchildren to live in. Improving our public transport is not only about protecting our environment, it’s also about the quality of life in communities all over England and Wales.

Decent public transport is essential for access to work across the economy, it also means that grandparents get to see their grandkids, and working parents get home earlier to spend time with their children, we call get to share in culture and entertainment. It means that teenagers can get to school and adult learners can access training that can transform lives. It means people on low incomes can visit town centre shops, and businesses can get the customers they need to reinvigorate local economies.

For too long, people have had to put up with inadequate services. All too often, buses are expensive and infrequent, with routes that get cut because the private providers are driven more by private profit than by a public service ethos. Train services are expensive and chaotic, with services frequently delayed – when they’re not cancelled at short notice due to staffing levels cut to the bone and maintenance services outsourced and short-staffed. The transport workforce has suffered alongside passengers. Years of frozen pay and attacks on terms and conditions are a poor reward for those on the frontline during the pandemic.

Public transport fit for the climate emergency sets out a plan for the investment in public transport throughout England and Wales that has long been needed. From town and cities, to villages and rural communities, this plan would mean more services, new routes, cheaper fares and modern fleets of low emission vehicles. This radical transformation must be funded by central government and delivered by local and regional transport authorities. And we should all get a say on the transport needs where we live and how this investment is allocated.

Passengers, local communities, and transport workers should all be consulted on public transport improvement plans where they live and work.

The investment proposed by this report would achieve the transition to low-carbon transport needed to honour our climate action agreements with the rest of the world. It would generate green and sustainable economic growth in regions across England and Wales. And it would directly create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the transport sector, plus many more in construction and manufacturing supply chains. As well as cheaper, more extensive and reliable buses, trams and trains, we would have cleaner air to breath. And the roads would be less congested for all road users.

To make sure that every community benefits as fully as possible, with ongoing investment and the best value fares, our public transport should be publicly owned.

The climate emergency means we must act. But the benefits of affordable, reliable and extensive public transport are so great that we should want to anyway – for the lower cost of living and higher quality of life it will bring. This report lays out the blueprint for 21st century public transport, all that’s left is to build it.

Download a copy of this publication here (link).

By staff - General Municipal Boilermakers (GMB), April 5, 2023

GMB, the energy union, has responded to the report of the Government's independent Offshore Wind Champion.  

Gary Smith, GMB General Secretary, said:

"This damning report exposes the UK's abject failure to pursue a proper industrial strategy to meet our energy needs. 

"The nation’s electricity grid has been starved of investment and now the consequences are being felt.

“The Government's wind energy targets are slipping out of view and the promise that tens of thousands of skilled jobs would be created here in the UK looks like a sick joke. 

"We need urgent reform and investment in our energy infrastructure and manufacturing base - otherwise working people and their communities will once again pay the price." 

By staff - National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), April 5, 2023

OFFSHORE union RMT today demanded trade union rights and fair pay in the Offshore Wind industry following an independent report by the UK government’s Offshore Wind Champion Tim Pick.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that it was disappointing that trade unions were not consulted as part of the report, especially as it acknowledges the importance of a just transition to the 50,000 jobs which are expected to be lost from the oil and gas industry by 2030.

“RMT is calling for mandatory collective bargaining in the offshore wind supply chain for fixed and floating projects, including in low tax low regulation Freeports where the government intend much of this accelerated offshore wind activity to take place.

“However, we welcome the recognition of the delay in skills passporting for our offshore members, the move away from voluntary local content targets and the linking of seabed leasing rights to supply chain development, which could be funded out of Crown Estates’ profits. 

“The recognition of the advantage gained in the US and EU by massive subsidy commitment to green energy is also significant but we need some reality to prevail over the damaging effects of government policy to date on increasing jobs, safety and skills across the offshore wind supply chain.

“For example, crew in the offshore wind supply chain can be paid below the national minimum wage to work at sea for months on end and that needs to change fast,” he said.