by Will Jones
Ed Miliband has forced wind power companies to support trade unions by threatening to cut their subsidies. The Telegraph has the story.
Dozens of businesses supplying the offshore wind industry have been pressured into adopting pro-union rules after the Energy Secretary warned he would reduce their access to taxpayer funds unless they complied.
It means the companies will be required to meet certain requirements in the Employment Rights Act months before they are rolled out nationwide, including a new right for trade unions to enter their workplaces.
They will also have to provide unions with information identifying “major contractors” across the supply chain where “reasonably practicable”, and actively engage representatives in projects that concern them.
At least 37 companies have agreed to the commitments set out in Miliband’s new Offshore Wind Fair Work Charter – after the Government threatened to block their applications for clean energy subsidies if they failed to comply.
The Tories accused Miliband of risking an increase in energy bills by “effectively forcing the offshore wind industry to accept unionisation”.
In its flagship Employment Rights Act, passed last year, Labour introduced several measures aimed at boosting the presence of trade unions in the workplace.
The new rules, which were Angela Rayner’s pet project before her resignation from the Cabinet, will include a “statutory right of access”, forcing bosses to let unions into their offices, and a duty on firms to inform workers of their right to join a union when they start a new job.
The Employment Rights Act is being implemented in stages, meaning these specific requirements are not set to come into force until October 2026.
However, Miliband has stripped offshore wind companies of their right to apply for the clean energy bonus – a green subsidy scheme – unless they sign up to his Fair Work Charter, effectively forcing them to implement the new rules early.
Worth reading in full.
