| Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005. |
Please note that opinion pieces (including letters, editorials, and blogs), reflect the viewpoints of their authors; National Wind Watch does not necessarily agree with them in their entirety or endorse them in any way, nor should it be implied that the writers endorse National Wind Watch.
General election: The real political issue of the week that almost everyone ignored
Credit: By Brian Wilson | The Scotsman | Saturday 16 November 2019 | www.scotsman.com ~~
There was a Scottish story this week full of the real stuff of politics – and correspondingly little coverage.
It involved Scottish and Southern Energy’s Seagreen offshore windfarm, off Montrose, which will pour many consumers’ bawbees into SSE dividends.
This largesse did not extend to poor sods working out at sea. These Third World labourers were paid a basic £3.40 an hour by SSE’s Dutch contractors, Fugro Marine, which has offices in Aberdeen.
On being caught red-handed, SSE conceded some workers “may have unintentionally been underpaid as the result of an administrative error at the company”.
Last year, SSE contractor Seaway Heavy Lifting was caught using cheap foreign labour in the Moray Firth and the Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm board agreed to ‘opt-in’ to the SSE Modern Slavery Statement. Well, whoopee!
A few quick lessons. 1, Without trade unions and the National Minimum Wage which Labour introduced in the teeth of Tory opposition, ruthless employers would still be paying exactly what they could get away with.
2, The same bandits are always looking for loopholes – so the one relating to offshore windfarms needs to be closed urgently.
3, Reliance on immigrant labour is a fool’s paradise often leading to exploitation, so be careful what we wish for.
4, Offshore wind is a huge lost opportunity for Scotland because of a total failure to plan for it over the past decade.
It is also worth remembering that SSE is the privatised legatee of a great public enterprise when state investment in the interests of all was not sneered at as a risible concept.
Tom Johnston is entitled to spin in his grave.
This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.
The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.
| Wind Watch relies entirely on User Contributions |
 (via Stripe) |
 (via Paypal) |
Share:
[ Short URL: https://wind-watch.org/news/?p=95294 ]
