Pix-&-Vidz of Vestas Occupation Solidarity Demo - Wed 22 Jul 09

Vidz at YouTube

• Vestas Occupation Solidarity Demo – Simon Hughes Gets Soundly Heckled
» LINK to follow shortly once editing & uploading is complete


At the Vestas wind turbine blade factory on the Isle of Wight, riot cops and private security goons are laying siege to workers in occupation. In London, the Energy and Climate Change Minister Ed Miliband is doing bugger all to stop Vestas bosses scrapping the only wind energy manufacturing plant in England. In my Open Letter to him, ‘It's “Money Where Mouth Is” time for UK Wind Turbine Manufacturing’, I suggested “that you are facing a stark “Which Side Are You On?” moment. On our side, there are the Vestas Workers and their supporters across the country and around the world, struggling to defend their jobs, save human civilisation from catastrophic climate chaos, and ameliorate the anthropogenic mass extinction event that is decimating our biosphere. On the other side, there are the Vestas bosses [backed up now by riot cops with dogs], following the capitalist bean counters’ logic-of-profitability and scrapping planet-saving plant for a faster buck to be made elsewhere. Which side are you on, Ed, which side are you on?”

The splendid and victorious examples set earlier this year by...
• workers occupying Visteon factories in Belfast, Basildon and Enfield
• workers expressing mass solidarity with Lindsey Oil Refinery construction workers, with walkouts at over 20 other sites
...show just how shaky our class enemies are. If we fight, we CAN win Big Time, but the bigger our forces, the better our chances of securing sustainable jobs, climate, and biosphere. So NOW is the time for YOU to join forces with our sisters and brothers in occupation on the Isle of Wight.


Express YOUR Solidarity with the Vestas Workers Occupation
When your kids, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, etc. ask you, “What did YOU do in the Great Climate War?”, here are the things you can tell them about that YOU did to aid this struggle.

1. Mutual Aid: Let’s put OUR Money where our Mouth Is – Donate to the Save Vestas Campaign
» By PayPal: from the campaign home page –  http://savevestas.wordpress.com
» By Cheque: payable to ‘Ryde and East Wight Trades Union Council’, 22 Church Lane, Ryde, Isle of Wight, PO33 2NB

2. Moral Boosting: Communicate YOUR Solidarity
» Send messages of support from yourself and/or your organisation to  savevestas@googlemail.com
» Organise a visible demonstration of solidarity, take a photo with a placard that reads “Save Vestas” and email the photo to  savevestas@gmail.com

3. Do The Right Thing: Try to get “New” Labour in Ministries to back Real Labour in Struggle
• Petition energy minister Ed Miliband – flood him with calls for the Government to take over the Vestas factory and keep it producing, under new management
» sample message:  http://dalinian.pbworks.com/It%27s-%E2%80%9CMoney-Where-Mouth-Is%E2%80%9D-time-for-UK-Wind-Turbine-Manufacturing
» Ed’s email –  ps.ed.miliband@decc.gsi.gov.uk
» Ed’s Doncaster constituency – 01302 875 462
» Ed’s Westminster number – 020 7219 4778
• Call on the UK Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Lord Mandelson to save wind energy jobs
»  http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/press_for_change/vestas_petition_20414.html


Whatever Next?
“It is now vital that the occupiers receive concrete support from organisations and individuals. There has been a picket line 200-strong outside the factory, which has been described as ‘crucial’ to the morale of the occupying workers.

If you would like to join the picket, or the environmental camp reported to have been set up near the gates, or the community campaign being set up on the island to support occupiers and their families, details on travel to the Isle of Wight are at the campaign website:
»  http://savevestas.wordpress.com/2009/07/22/vestas-occupiers-face-sack/

If you cannot make it to the Isle of Wight yourself, try to convince other people who can – support at the factory itself is vital to the moral of the workers who in occupying the factory still have the power to force the government to step in.

Come to the Isle of Wight TODAY to join the community campaign – we are setting up a campaign for Vestas workers’ families and Isle of Wight residents to show their support for keeping jobs at Vestas. The families and communities campaign will be very important in keeping spirits up through this stressful time. For more details call 07 775 763 750.

PUBLIC DEMONSTRATION on Fri 24 Jul 09
Come to St Thomas Square in Newport at 5:30pm on Friday 24th July where we will be making a very public display of how we feel about the Vestas closures!”
~ from ‘VESTAS OCCUPIERS FACE SACK’, Wed 22 Jul 09
»  http://savevestas.wordpress.com/2009/07/22/vestas-occupiers-face-sack/


Links
• Save Vestas Campaign
»  http://savevestas.wordpress.com

• Save Our Job's and Possibly Our Local Economy
»  http://www.vestasjobs.net

• Facebook
• SAVE VESTAS, SAVE JOBS, SAVE THE PLANET
»  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=104953576573
• Save Vestas Blades UK
»  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=46793136507


Please do anything and everything you can to help secure the victory our sisters and brothers in occupation so richly deserve.

Up the Revolution,

Tim Dalinian Jones


All these photos and video clips are 'CopyLeft'
This means you are free to copy and distribute any of my photos & videos you find here, under the following license:
• Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License
»  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
» Accreditation:  tim.dalinian.jones@gmail.com