Demonstration: Tuesday 28th July, 6.30pm, London
Outside the Department of Energy and Climate Change
3 Whitehall Place (off Whitehall, Charing Cross tube)
Called jointly by the Campaign against Climate Change and the RMT (National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers)
Vestas plan to close the UK's only wind turbine factory on the Isle of Wight on 31st July. 600 jobs will be lost immediately, many more jobs that depend on Vestas will follow. This makes no sense from a green or a labour perspective! Workers have now occupied the factory and need your support. Their action has led to mass publicity, a flood of solidarity messages from all over the world, and a growing snowball of joint protests by environmentalists and trades unionists.
The government has just announced a major expansion of renewable energy including wind power. We are calling on Vestas to keep the factories open, saving jobs and offering those who want to leave a better redundancy deal. We are calling on the government to intervene to save jobs at Vestas - through nationalisation if that is what it takes - to show that it is serious about saving the planet.
more info at
http://savevestas.wordpress.com/
On Wednesday 29th the case goes to court for Vestas to take out an injunction to evict the occupiers of the plant in Newport on the Isle of Wight.
Hence the need for a show of support Tuesday evening – there will also be a big demonstration outside the court on the Isle of Wight on Wednesday morning.
Rally - Wed 29 July NEWPORT, IoW Newport County Court, rally to support occupiers defending hearing for a possession order, 10am
Just when we need a huge expansion in renewable energy they are closing down the only wind turbine factory in the UK. The government has spent billions bailing out the banks, and £2.3 billion in loan guarantees to support the UK car industry – they can and should step in to save the infrastructure we are really going to need to save us from climate catastrophe.
Messages of support to the Vestas campaign can be sent to savevestas@gmail.com
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If you cannot make it to the Isle yourself there are also things you can do from home to support the workers:
- Send messages of support to savevestas@googlemail.com as this lets the workers in the factory know that they have the support of people around the country and, hopefully, around the world.
- Donate to the Vestas Fighting Fund:
Cheques Payable to Ryde and East Wight Trades Union
Send Cheques to:
22 Church Lane
Ryde
Isle of Wight
PO33 2NB
(suggest writing in with the cheque that you wish it to go to the Vestas Fighting Fund)
- Bombard Ed Miliband: let the government know the public will not let them wriggle out of their commitment to green energy when they have an opportunity to bail out a green energy company the way they did the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Doncaster constituency office tel. 01302 875 462
Westminster office tel. 020 7219 4778
Email: ps.ed.miliband@decc.gsi.gov.uk
- Sign the Save Vestas petition on 10 Downing Street website http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/SaveVestas/
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GETTING TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT PRACTICAL INFO:
If you want to go to the Isle of Wight and join the campaign there, as many activists from around the country have already done:
National Express coaches go London to Southampton every hour, with funfares from £5 booking online.
Megabus coaches go London to Southampton at 08:39, 10:39, 12:39. 14:39, 16:00 and 21:39, with prices from £6 (the 16:00 ones tend to be the cheapest).
Both arrive at the National Express station on Harbour Parade in Southampton, about ten minutes walk from the Isle of Wight ferry terminal (the Red Funnel terminal). To get to the terminal:
1. Head south on Harbour Parade
Go through 1 roundabout
2. Turn left at A3057/W Quay Rd
Continue to follow A3057
Go through 1 roundabout
3. Turn right at Bugle Street
Destination will be on the left
Red Funnel ferries cost £7 at the desk, and from £4 booking in advance online. When you arrive on the Island, take the chain ferry from East Cowes to Cowes, then the No. 1 bus to Newport from the stop on Newport Rd. http://www.redfunnel.co.uk/
You can also go by train from Waterloo to Southampton Central and then get the Red Jet ferry service to West Cowes check http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ for times / cost. You can buy a through ticket to West Cowes at Waterloo which includes the ferry. The no1. bus from Cowes to Newport - £3 - leaves from directly outside the ferry terminal building.
To join up with one of the existing support networks on the island
contact Ed Maltby on 07775 763 750.
For more information about the campaign on the Island and what you can do, email edward.maltby@googlemail.com or pat.rolfe64@googlemail.com
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