United for jobs

Unite joined a coalition of campaign groups on Wednesday morning (14 May) outside Parliament, demanding “climate justice” and calling on the government to commit to a fully funded plan for a just transition that supports jobs and skills in the North Sea.

Unite is part of a partnership, including fellow unions and climate groups such as Greenpeace and Platform, that has proposed an emergency funding package that would support oil and gas workers cross the North Sea transition to renewables jobs.

The funding would include £1.1bn a year to support local jobs, £440m of port investment and £355m a year for a dedicated training fund for offshore workers, which would have match-funding from industry.

This would result in a £1.9 billion annual package to support the energy transition.

Claire Peden, Unite for a Workers’ Economy team lead, said: “The UK government must deliver a real, robust plan that guarantees good, secure jobs for oil and gas workers as part of the energy transition.

“So far, that promise hasn’t materialised, yet 30,000 jobs are at risk by 2030.

“Climate change is an urgent crisis, but it must not be working people who bear the brunt. A just transition needs to be a workers’ transition: no one must be left behind.”

Ruby Earle, worker transition lead at Platform, praised the way the campaign has brought together unions and environmental groups in an “amazing show of solidarity and collaboration”.

Ruby said, “Today, unions and climate campaigners are sending a clear message to the Chancellor

“We need urgent public investment that creates permanent, unionised renewable energy jobs and supports the country’s oil and gas workers to move into them. Multinationals have held us to ransom for too long.

“It’s time we give workers and communities a real stake in our energy industry.”

Mel Evans, climate team leader at Greenpeace UK, added: “It’s vital that we don’t leave oil and gas workers’ future in the hands of private companies who put their profits above workers’ security and the climate time and time again.

“That’s why Rachel Reeves must commit to this emergency package of funding to protect workers and their communities.

“If she fails to act, she leaves their livelihoods at the mercy of greedy oil bosses and will undermine community confidence in the transition to renewable energy.”

You can find out more about Unite’s Oil and Gas – No Ban Without a Plan campaign. 

In February Unite helped secure £200m for Grangemouth. 

By Keith Hatch