Unjust and unjustifiable: 11 non-unionised Vestas workers sacked for protest

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

Despite the tension around the Vestas factory on the Isle of Wight, it is not just and it cannot be justified that 11 non-unionsed employees have tonight been sacked by the Danish wind turbine manufacturers for occupying the building in protest at the factory’s closure.

The 11 workers were served their notice in a note that was delivered with a pizza, according to the Save Vestas blog. These are people without a support structre, trying to save their jobs. They deserve to be treated with more dignity and respect.

And not only is such a harsh dismissal inappropriate, it may also prove ineffective. One of the workers at the factory said tonight:

“We’re obviously disappointed but we kind of expected this. It’s not going to deter us and we’re not going to leave. We’re not doing this for us now, we’re doing this for everybody else.”

The workers are now expected to attend a hearing at Newport County Court, after they received a summons yesterday. The RMT has stepped in to offer legal support to the protestors, but they still thave no formal union representation.

Meanwhile, thousands of protestors from the burgeoning red-green movement are expected to converge on the Isle of Wight tomorrow after the Big Green Gathering festival in Somerset was cancelled and ticketholders were urged to travel to Newport instead. The new gathering has already been dubbed “Vestival” and word is spreading through social media outlets.