Vestas Will Regain Control of Isle of Wight Plant

Vestas UK won their court appeal today to repossess their wind power plant after it was seized by workers in protest over a week ago. The Newport court judge assigned to the case approved the appeal to have the workers removed when protesters began to stage a protest at a second power plant on the Isle of Wight, the same Isle where Vestas plant is located.

The workers will be notified today of the eviction notice and when to expect bailiffs to arrive to clear the facility.  Most often a couple days notice is expected to be granted the workers protesting inside the wind plants offices.

“We want the protest to continue. But we want it to remain peaceful. This place has a future and we shall not give up on that,” said one of the workers protesting inside the factory.

The workers began their almost two week long sit-in shortly after Vestas announced it would be closing its Isle of Wight plant due to lack of demand on the market for wind energy turbines.  

Bob Crowe, the general secretary of the RMT union, represented the workers in court today who signed on with the union shortly after the sit-in began. Crowe has attacked both Vestas and the government for allowing the closure which will result in a loss of almost 630 jobs. The closure will also be a blow to the sustainable energy industry as it is one of the largest wind turbine manufacturing sites in the UK.

“The court has made its decision, but we will continue with our campaign and the right to work on green energy jobs,”  Crowe said yesterday.

The court’s decision came in the wake of a new sit-in staged by a group of protesters at the Vestas plant in Cowes.  The group staged the sit-in in order to draw more attention to the Isle of Wight workers, but it seems the protest may have cause the workers’ eviction in an unfortunate backlash.

Special thanks to guardian.co.uk for the above quotes, for more information please view the article on their website.