HINKLEY POINT C
Find outmore HERE Hinkley delay slammed
As uniteWORKS went to press, the Tory government announced a further delay on the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station just hours after French company EDF gave the project the green light.
The announcement sent shockwaves among key stakeholders. EDF had expected to sign contracts with the government just after the company’s board gave the financial go-ahead in late July. Construction was set to start in a matter of weeks.
But energy secretary Greg Clark said the government will now “make its decision in early autumn” – a move roundly condemned by Unite.
Roughly 25,000 jobs are on the line, as is the UK’s ability to keep the lights on. Hinkley Point C will eventually generate seven per cent of the UK’s electricity, enough to power six million homes. New nuclear build is urgently needed at a time when coal-fired power stations – which accounts for a third of the UK’s electricity supply – are slowly being phased out.
Unite national officer Kevin Coyne slammed the government’s announce- ment. “The government must now give the final go-ahead and show that it has the appetite for the big infrastructure projects that the UK so desperately needs for its future economic prosperity,” he said.
Unite regional officer Rob Miguel said that the thousands of jobs the project will generate are absolutely vital for the local Somerset economy.
“The mood locally and on site is quite sombre,” he said. “These jobs now on hold are not only in construction – the project also needs, for example, hundreds of bus drivers as well as hundreds of catering and cleaning staff.
“Those who’ve applied for jobs are being put on standby yet again,” Miguel added. “We’re staring at massive skills gap after the many thousands waiting for work will leave and take their skills with them. We cannot afford further delays.”
LIVING WAGE Living Wage win
Unite has won staff working in schools in Hackney the London Living Wage following a year-long campaign. Catering and cleaning staff employed through subcontractor OCS have been promised a wage increase of £2.20 an hour backdated to this April 1.
The London Living wage was increased
to £9.40 per hour in October 2015 and Hackney council is committed to paying it to all council employees and those directly employed by schools.
Yet cleaners and catering staff working in schools within the borough were earning as little as £6.70 an hour (the minimum wage at the time).
9 uniteWORKS Summer 2016
Find outmore HERE
The campaign came about when Unite surveyed staff in Hackney schools.
“The survey showed us that people’s biggest concern was that they were not receiving the London Living Wage,” said Unite regional officer Onay Kasab.
“Not only have we secured a better wage for them but we have gained some really wonderful new colleagues along the way,” he added.
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