Nationwide day of protest over Vestas
By Ian Dunt and Liz Stephens
Britain was struck by nationwide protests today, as activists and trade unionists angry over the closure of the Vestas wind turbine factory vented their anger.
From Birmingham to Warrington, demonstrations and rallies took place across the country.
"The day of action gives everyone a chance to send a clear message to the company and to the government that this is an issue that will not go away," said Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT, which represents a substantial block of the Vestas workforce.
"The fight for Vestas and for the future of wind turbine manufacture in England is far from over."
The union is fighting to get the factory, in the Isle of Wight, back into production, with help from environmental activists.
Jonathan Neale of the Campaign Against Climate Change (CCC) told politics.co.uk: "Nationally there are over 40 events happening today across the UK.
"It's about getting the jobs back for the Vestas workers but we need half a million jobs in renewable energy to beat climate change."
Alex Flynn, a spokesperson for the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), who organised an event in Westminster today, told politics.co.uk: "It's important that people show their support for the Vestas workers, not only because of the disgraceful way they are being treated but also because of the environmental issues at stake.
"The government needs to intervene if it's serious about green energy and tackling climate change."
However, in a statement today the company said the present UK market "is not large enough to justify the required investment to convert the Isle of Wight factory to produce blades for the UK market.
"In particular, the local planning process for onshore wind power plants in the UK remains an obstacle to the development of the market."
Ole Borup Jakobsen, president of Vestas Blades said: "The decision to close the factory was very difficult, and we fully recognise the impact this will have on employees, their families and on the Isle of Wight."
"Nonetheless, this commercial decision was absolutely necessary to secure Vestas'competiveness and create a regional balance between production and the demand for wind turbines."
Vestas workers occupied the factory for 18 days, before bailiffs entered last Friday. Unions want the workers reinstated and threat of black-listing lifted.
"The fight for Vestas and for the future of wind turbine manufacture in England is far from over. We are continuing to back this brave group of workers," Mr Crow said.
There were rallies and demonstrations today in Birmingham, the London borough of Hackney, Nottingham, Oxford, Portsmouth, Sheffield, Southampton and Warrington.
Brighton, Cardiff, Central London, Liverpool and Wrexham saw public meetings, while Gordon Brown's constituency office in Cowdenbeath was picketed from midday, despite the prime minister being in the Lake District.
Another day of action in support of Vestas workers is planned for 9th September.
Vestas Wind Systems confirmed yesterday that its plant in Newport, Isle of Wight, England has closed. The workers employed there have received their redundancy notices.

425 jobs were lost in the factory closure and that of Vestas's Southampton facility, with a further 40 employees beginning work at Vestas's research & development facility on the island and 57 staying on to help close the factory down. Initial estimates had said that 575 jobs would be lost in the Newport and Southampton facilities' closure, with a further 50 lost in the closure of facilities elsewhere on the Isle of Wight.

The Newport plant had originally been planned to close on July 31. From July 20, it was the site of an eighteen-day occupation in which a group of Vestas workers entered the plant and lived in it, refusing to leave until the company offered a better redundancy package or until the government nationalised the plant, which is the only major producer of wind turbines in the United Kingdom. The closure comes shortly after Joan Ruddock, Britain's Minister for Climate Change, stated in an interview that the British government would not pursue nationalisation.

Vestas attribute the shutdown of the plant to insufficient demand in the United Kingdom due to difficulties in obtaining planning permission for on-shore wind farms, and closed the plant in part of a 1,900-job closure affecting facilities both in Britain and in the company's home country of Denmark. The president of Vestas's blades division called the closures "absolutely necessary to secure Vestas' competitiveness and create a regional balance between production and the demand for wind turbines". Vestas CEO Ditlev Engel, meanwhile, told ''The Guardian'' that he was "not ruling out" restoring the redundancy packages to the 11 occupiers who were terminated while taking part in the occupation. "The last thing that we wanted was to have this confrontation", Engel said.

A number of protest camps remain at Vestas facilities across the Isle of Wight, including outside the Newport factory, and seven anarcho-environmentalist protesters are living atop the roof of the Vestas facility at Venture Quays. A number of Vestas employees spent Wednesday speaking at solidarity meetings throughout the United Kingdom arranged by members of the informal coalition of left, environmentalist and trade union groups which sprung up to support the Vestas employees after the closure was announced.