ORGANISING OFFSHORE WIND FARMS

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: may 2019 :: RMTnews 8 RMT has won trade union recognition at CWind, part of Global Marine which supplies off shore wind farms, as part of its campaign to organise in the growing sector. CWind employ 16 skippers and crew based at Ramsgate harbour. RMT regional organiser Brian Whitehead and Dave Marshall of the organising unit met with the skippers and crew earlier this year to discuss issues, the importance of union recognition and how to achieve RMT recognition at Ramsgate. 15 of the 16 had joined RMT so the union sent a Schedule A1 request for voluntary recognition to the company but declined requests so RMT entered a formal claim for recognition with the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) for trade union for collective bargaining rights. The company agreed that the proposed bargaining unit was acceptable and also accepted that RMT had majority membership and the CAC issued a declaration of recognition for collective bargaining to RMT last month. The union is now entering a period of negotiation with the company on the details of the procedural agreement. The union has also set up an Offshore Wind Working Party to explore opportunities in the sector which has already identified a number of different elements that can be roughly broken down into three key stages: Planning – this involves the initial proposals from the private sector, the licensing processes by the UK and Scottish Governments and the final steps from licencing to installing infrastructure at sea. Construction – this involves the establishment of the subsea cabling and foundation and installation of the turbines. Some offshore wind turbines are not fixed to the sea bed (i.e. are ‘floating’) but still require attachment to the grid via sub- stations. This is the most labour-intensive phase, requiring a range of ships to provide specialist support and to transfer crew. Maintenance – wind turbines have a working life of around 25 years. Once they are operational, regular maintenance of the turbine and its subsea infrastructure is conducted via smaller vessels. Comment was made that maintenance costs are increasing faster than employers have expected, particularly the cost of maintaining cabling and other subsea infrastructure. The planning stage is critical for workers and the union. Environmental and conservation audits are carried out at this stage but there is no standard assessment or agreement over terms and conditions for offshore wind workers that will be employed at the different stages in the productive life of an offshore wind farm. These issues need to be raised and standards agreed in order to affect current problems around employment, immigration and training which currently manifest themselves at the construction stage. Currently there is a lack of regulatory oversight for the offshore wind sector, with no overarching body outside of employers’ organisations like the Global Wind Organisation, Offshore Wind Industry Council and the International Marine Contractors Association. It has been agreed that the union should pursue a European Employment Standard for the offshore wind industry is something that needs to be addressed by the union through the ITF Offshore Taskforce <None>Group, in the first instance. At present, there is a culture of sub-contracting in the industry which is leading to a business model based on low pay, particularly in specialist seafaring roles where basic pay rates can be well below the UK national minimum wage. Successive immigration waivers issued by the Home Office to employers in the offshore wind sector are also a continuing factor to issues of low pay and poor regulation. Duplication of training ORGANISING OFFSHORE WIND FARMS Union wins recognition in campaign to organise offshore wind farm workers