Sturgeon urged to act as ‘Scotland missing out on green jobs boom’
THE First Minister is being urged to intervene amid concerns Scotland is missing out on a wind farm jobs boom as it emerges another major firm failed to land a key contract.
A circular message from CS Wind, based near Campbeltown in Argyll
– the only UK facility manufacturing onshore and offshore wind towers – reveals that hope of stopping 80 per cent of the staff being axed remain slim, while it also confirms it has lost vital work.
The yard, bought over by the South Korea-based company in 2016, has announced it will cut up to three-quarters of its workforce, despite recording pre-tax profits of £7.1 million last year.
The update – signed off by the managing director Yun-cheol Kim – confirmed that a major project to make towers for the Beinn an Tuirc wind farm would “no longer” be carried out at CS Wind’s Scottish factory.
The Herald understands 22 workers have already lost their jobs this week.
The trade union, Unite, has written to Nicola Sturgeon to make a last-ditch appeal to rescue the company and appeals to her to help breathe new life into Scotland’s wind farm industry.
CS Wind was in the running for work on the Beinn an Tuirc wind farm on the Kintyre peninsula, which is to consist of 18 turbines.
Unite believe CS Wind lost out on the Beinn an Tuirc contract due to the uncertainty surrounding the site. It was believed the contract would have provided the yard with two months of work until other contracts could be secured.
Staff at CS Wind have now been told that meetings with government officials, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and union leaders have “not given us any positive outcomes so far”.
Mr Kim said: “Despite all efforts to date, there remains a significant high risk of redundancies of around 80% of the workforce at all levels. Currently, it is expected that approximately 20% of employees will be retained to complete our contractual obligations.”
It is understood this would mean up to 73 jobs would go at the factory, which has a total workforce of 94.
Pat Rafferty, Unite’s Scottish secretary, said: “Unite is extremely concerned about the future of CW Wind. It’s the UK’S only facility which manufactures onshore and offshore wind towers, however, 120 workers face redundancy in the coming weeks.
“This is due to contract gaps but the position has been exacerbated by CS Wind’s decision to announce redundancies at precisely the same time as they are awaiting news on bids for contracts.
“If CS Wind is successful it would keep the workforce employed for a further year but the contract could be on the brink of being lost unless the factory receives concrete support from the Scottish Government.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “This has been a very difficult time for workers at CS Wind and our priority has been to support the company in its attempts to secure future work for the site to plug a gap in its order book.
“We have explored all areas where we can assist the company to retain its workforce for the longer term, such as funding infrastructure improvements to lower transport costs, but we do not have a legal route to gap-fund manufacturing itself .”