Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Solidarity with Vestas Workers!

PeterPannier | 05.10.2009 18:06 | Workers' Movements | South Coast

SINCE the removal of the 'Marine Gate' 'Blade Blockade', and the Turbine Blades that remained in the Vestas Blades UK factory on St. Cross Business Park, Dodnor Lane, Newport, Isle of Wight, campaigners have been sorting out the original 'Magic Roundabout' Camp, and considering strategy.

A Marquee has been erected and a fair amount of furniture skipped / built to make the area comfortable and well-resourced in terms of power (80-odd watts of solar power for phone and laptop charging), a solar shower, and spare tents for visitors.

The campaign to keep the Wind Turbine Blade Factory on the Isle of Wight (the only sizeable renewables production facility in the UK) open was featured heavily in the national news media in July and August. Media, and activist, attention was grabbed by the Occupation of the offices at the factory by a small number of the 600 workers who were to lose their jobs (more would have occupied, but the management were tipped off, and the occupation had to be moved forwards).

The occupation began on July 20th. Vestas failed to sort out their eviction order the first time, meaning the occupation lasted 10 days beyond the closure of the factory on July 31st. Workers remained on full pay during this time, and many workers entered the company redundancy scheme thanks purely to this (Vestas was to refuse them any redundancy despite the fact they were days from the minimum time needed). This was one of many small victories.

With the end of the occupation, many in the local press spoke of the 'end of the campaign' - no doubt in part thanks to ideas put out by Vestas themselves. On the contrary, rallies and meetings continued, the local JobCentre was 'Rushed', demos happened around the Isle of Wight and nationally, including one march which ended with local campaigners and supporters invading the Vestas site, and temporarily occupying the factory (leaving of their own will).

Focus then shifted to the Wind Turbine Blades that were being stored both in Southampton (109 blades) and the St. Cross factory (9 blades). Activists occupied a crane and two barges in Southampton, and blockaded the gate wherby blades were moved to the River Medina on the Island. Vestas security attempted to make it known that Vestas were unconcerned about the 'Blade Blockade', but activists estimated the value of the Blades at £750,000, and the police operation to evict the camp suggests some degree of importance attached to the removal of the blockade.

Players...
Players...


Up until the eviction of the 'Blade Blockade', the police presence has generally been low and reasonable. Officers constantly repeated the line in informal police liaison that they "were neutral" and there to facilitate peaceful protest. Very few arrests have been made.

Last week 120 officers were drafted in from the mainland, arriving at the 'Blade Blockade' at 6.30am. The cyclepath over which Blades had to be taken to reach the river was shut off with harris fencing, and lines of police. 13 people were arrested for "having committed, committing, or about to commit the offence of aggravated trespass", but as I understand it none were charged later. Workers (including several of the original occupiers) and supporters were present with banners and chants, but the blades were removed from the factory. Also removed, by police, were various items found at the Marine Gate camp - including a tripod, various tables, a brazier, a large tarpaulin, tents, and much else besides. Apparently this is available for colelction but one attempt at least has been met with a failure to return goods confiscated.

Shortly afterward, Vestas installed new Harris fencing expanding their "perimeter" (now including the infamous 'Vestas Oak' - "from small occupations, mighty revolutions grow"), putting up 'Private Property No Trespassing' signs', and strengthening triangles in the fencing, and denying the campaigners the option of hanging banners on the fencing.

Since the eviction of the Blockade camp, workers and campaigners living at the site have concentrated on a massive tidying operation. Banners have been hung in front of the main gate by other means, and a marquee and stage area erected. Local skips and plentiful and provide a variety of useful furniture and raw materials for the construction of tables, shelving units and the like. The Marquee is becoming a social centre of sorts, with information from the different groups present (Vestas campaign, Climate Camp, Climate Rush, Bicycology, Alliance for Workers Liberty, SWP, Socialist Party) - and more on it's way. There's a solar powered mobile charging point and stereo, a solar shower, a 12 seater dining/meeting table, a radical library and photo/newpaper history of the campaign.

Vestas workers have had appeals against their dismissal (essentially against the closure of the factory) this week, and they and others have been visiting the camp more than they have recently had time/energy too. A positive local news story on 'life at the camp' seems to have inspired more locals to visit out of curiosity, and with Film Nights, National and Local Meetings, an advertised restaurant evening and even a 'girls night in' planned, things are looking interesting.

The Fight Goes On. We ain't giving up on this one! Come and Join Us!

(Fighting for 1. Reinstatement of the sacked occupying workers - owed £45,000 redundancy collectively. 1.b) better redundancy for all. 2. Re-opening of the factory. Ideally under worker control, through nationalisation if necessary, bought out by a consortium, or re-opened by Vestas as alternatives. 3. A decent energy strategy from the government and IOW council regarding production of energy through renewables, and production of the renewables kit on the IOW and in the UK. Ed Miliband is soon to meet Vestas management. Don't let either of them get away with rhetoric and PR)

PeterPannier
- Homepage: http://savevestas.wordpress.com

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech