This year's rally included climate
change and environmental justice as a core theme, highlighting the fact that ecological
hazards and climate disasters disproportionately affect the global south –
having the harshest impacts on people of color, indigenous populations and those on low
incomes.
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| Joe Roach, Scottish youth climate striker |
Joe Roach, a Scottish Youth
Climate Striker addressed the rally, stressing the need for urgent
action in response to the climate emergency. We don’t have a copy of his
speech, unfortunately, but you can read about the movement here climatestrike.scot.
ATUC Executive Committee member and
UNISON delegate Steve Gray attended the recent STUC Conference on Climate Change and
Energy, and provided the following update to the rally…
A few weeks ago I attended the STUC Conference on Climate
Change and Energy which included reps from the Just Transition Commission set
up by the Scottish Parliament.The Just Transition Commission has been established for a period of 2 years to investigate how the transition to a Carbon Neutral Scotland can be achieved in a socially, economically and environmentally just way.
Comrades, as trade union reps, activists within our communities and schools we know that transitions can be far from just.
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| Steve Gray, UNISON |
Here in the North East of Scotland we have seen a massive
transition to an economy based on fossil fuels . A transition that was far from just as was
demonstrated a few years ago when the oil price dropped and thousands of oil
workers were sacked. Since then pay,
terms and conditions of the oil and gas sector works has been cut by the
companies. Health and safety is being
compromised.
Despite increases in profits for the companies in recent years the
economy of the North East of Scotland has not recovered.Sadly at the STUC Conference evidence was offered by trade unions that the offshore renewable industry is behaving the same way as the offshore fossil fuels companies. The ships in the Aberdeen Bay building the offshore wind turbines are administered by the UK Government. Travel 1.5 miles offshore and the UK Government gives the renewables and the fossil fuel companies a de-regulation.
De-regulation means companies are free to bring in workers from
elsewhere with no requirement to apply UK pay rates, or UK terms and conditions. If you are from Africa and Asia you get $3 an
hour! If you are from Central or
Southern Europe 6 Euros an hour! 12 hour
shifts a day for a minimum of 6 weeks are the norm. No shore leave. Some workers are out there for 4 months. When
you get home the agent takes a 25 % cut from your wages as their fee.
Hardly a bright hope for Scotland’s future.
Supporting the importing of skilled but poorly paid workers has
allowed the renewables sector to avoid the industry’s training needs. There are no training courses for offshore
renewables construction in Scotland or the rest of the UK to develop the skills
of young people and fossil fuels workers seeking to work in the so called
“industry of tomorrow”.
A Just Transition requires this to change. Training in offshore and onshore renewables
jobs is needed now. The energy sector needs
to be regulated offshore to provide Fair Work.
The offshore energy industry needs to support the needs of the
onshore communities not the other way round.
The Climate Emergency is hitting the coastal communities now as
sea levels rise, storms intensities and frequencies increase and “weather
bombs” send torrents of rain water crashing through coastal villages like
Gamrie, Pennan and Portsoy. The 2 year
lifetime for the Just Transition Commission is not enough. The onshore communities like Aberdeen need a
Just Transition Government Department to deliver the socially, environmentally
and economically just transition for all members of society. Business as usual is not an option. We need to demand a Just Transition.
