Photo by Dean Brierley

Offshore wind companies seeking to participate in Contracts for Difference and access the Clean Industry Bonus will be required to sign up to a new Fair Work Charter, ensuring that public funding delivers good, secure jobs in local communities. The Fair Work Charter, which was developed jointly between industry and trade unions, will ensure that workers in the offshore wind sector get early access to some of the benefits granted by the government’s landmark Employment Rights Act.

This includes providing trade unions with better access to workplaces and opportunities to engage with workers, as well as clear standards on health and safety in the workplace. These upgrades to rights at work will pave the way towards trade union recognition in offshore wind companies, and build towards comprehensive agreements between developers and trade unions in the future, which could include commitments on pay, apprenticeships, and inclusive workplaces.

Clean energy jobs must be good jobs

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said “Clean energy jobs should always be good jobs, with decent pay and the very best rights at work. By securing more clean, homegrown energy we are driving billions in private sector investment into UK ports, factories and manufacturing, unleashing a clean energy jobs boom from East Anglia to Aberdeen. But we must ensure these jobs are future-proof, secure and well-paid. So we are stepping in to make sure public funding serves the public good – raising the bar for workplace standards, giving workers access to trade unions and guaranteeing a stronger voice in how their workplaces are run.”

The government expects to deliver 100,000 jobs in the sector through its Clean Energy Jobs Plan, with industry estimates showing a typical offshore wind salary is around £10,000 higher than the UK average. The government has also set out plans to drive private investment in offshore wind skills, requiring contribution to a skills funding pot by 2027 to help train future generation of technicians in the wind sector. 90% of the oil and gas workforce possess skills that are transferable into offshore renewables.

Record auction delivers £3.4 billion private investment

This follows the biggest single procurement of offshore wind energy in British and European history last month, where the government secured a record capacity of 8.4 GW of offshore wind – enough to power over 12 million homes – at a price 40% lower than the cost of operating and running a new gas power plant. Through this auction, the government crowded in up to £3.4 billion of private investment through the Clean Industry Bonus into British manufacturing, factories and ports. For every £1 of public money invested through the Clean Industry Bonus, £17 of private investment has flowed into supply chains in some of the most deprived areas of the country, supporting up to 7,000 jobs according to industry estimates.

Trade union and industry responses

Eddie Dempsey, General Secretary of the RMT, said “This is a welcome move to link clean energy funding with real workers’ rights and trade union access. Due to our campaigning, the government is signalling to developers and contractors that they must work with trade unions to deliver decent jobs, collective bargaining and safe, secure workplaces which benefit workers within the renewable energy sector.”

Paul Nowak, General Secretary of the TUC, stated “Workers in growing industries like offshore wind must have good quality jobs. This initial Fair Work Charter is a welcome step in the right direction. Offshore workers keep the lights on and increase our energy independence so we don’t have to rely on Putin’s Russia. That’s why it’s important that the government has brought together unions and industry to negotiate a pathway to decent work.”

Scott Young, Director of Renewable Delivery at RenewableUK, said “The offshore wind industry is working closely with the government and trade unions to ensure that we maximise the number of high-quality, well-paid jobs we create through the introduction of the Fair Work Charter and a proposed new skills investment fund. There are currently 40,000 people working in the sector, and we need to build on this by recruiting and retaining tens of thousands of skilled workers in the years ahead.”