The Scottish division of union GMB has called on the Holyrood and London administrations and the offshore wind industry to halt the “scandal” of the majority of major contracts going to overseas companies.
Scotland organiser Hazel Nolan, speaking ahead of a “crucial” offshore wind supply chain summit to be held in Edinburgh on Thursday, claimed “tens of thousands” of local jobs have been lost from the sector to international competitors in 2019.
“Politicians of all parties spent last year preaching to people about ‘green jobs revolutions’ and ‘green new deals’, meanwhile the jobs of the future were sailing to Spain, Indonesia and the UAE,” said Nolan.
“Workers and communities in places like Fife and Lewis are sick and tired of hearing about ‘jam tomorrow’, especially when redundancy notices are being handed out in the here and now.”
She said local companies need to know if they will secure work on SSE Renewables’ 1.1GW Seagreen project, amid reports that some components “will be built in the Far East”.
She added: “This morning UK and Scottish Ministers will be sitting round the table with industry majors and our message to both will be blunt: This is a scandal and it has to stop.”
Scottish Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse (pictured) will convene a second offshore wind summit on Thursday, following up last May’s opening meeting. Senior company executives from both developers and contractors are due to attend.