Delegates at the TUC Congress voted for a motion which also called for the building of Sizewell C
Chris Jarvis
Sept. 8, 2024
Left Foot Forward
The TUC today voted to oppose a ban on new oil and gas licenses, until a ‘fully funded workers’ plan guaranteeing commensurate jobs for all North Sea workers’ is agreed. The vote took place at the TUC Congress in Brighton today.
The issue proved to be the most controversial debated so far at TUC Congress, with delegates split on the motion proposed by the Unite union. Delegates from unions including UCU and NEU spoke against the motion.
Speaking in favour of the motion, a Unite delegate said: “We demand a real industrial strategy built on expertise and experience of oil and gas workers”, adding: “This is the greatest challenge in energy in our lifetimes. We can show the world what a just transition looks like.”
A UCU delegate, speaking against the motion told the conference: “Fossil fuels are the key reason we have an ecological crisis today. More fossil fuels will mean more famine, more wildfires and more displaced populations across the globe.”
As the motion had no clear majority from delegates in the room, the motion was taken to a card vote. Delegates representing 2,712,000 trade union members backed the motion, with those representing 2,457,000 voting against it.
The motion – which was entitled ‘Industrial strategy, national security and a workers’ transition’ – also called for public ownership of energy companies and for the building of the Sizewell C nuclear plant.
A ban on new fossil fuel licenses was a key plank of Labour’s 2024 general manifesto.
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
Image credit: Gary Bembridge – Creative Commons
New oil and gas ban threatens jobs, unions warn
Becky Morton
BBC
Political reporter
Political reporter
PA Media
More than 30,000 jobs are under threat from the government's plans to ban new licences for oil and gas production in the UK, unions have warned.
Delegates at the TUC Congress in Brighton narrowly voted in support of a motion calling for no ban to be implemented before a fully funded plan guaranteeing comparable jobs for all North Sea workers is agreed.
Proposing the motion, Unite and the GMB - the country's second and third biggest unions - said while climate change did pose a risk, fossil fuels should not be abandoned until workers knew how their jobs would be protected.
However, other unions opposed the move, arguing there are "no jobs on a dead planet".
A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: "The government has a non-negotiable commitment to securing a proud future for the North Sea.
"This includes setting up Great British Energy, a publicly owned energy company headquartered in Scotland, which will invest in technologies that will make us a world-leader in industries that use the expertise of North Sea workers such as floating offshore wind and carbon capture and storage."
Keir Starmer facing flashpoints with the unions
Starmer vows to prevent oil communities withering
Cliff Bowen, who sits on Unite's executive council, told the conference the issue would be "the biggest test of Keir Starmer's mettle".
"Environmental action is required but exporting jobs, skills and destroying working class kids’ futures, while moving production abroad, is just burying our heads in the sand," he said.
Mr Bowen warned of "false promises of green jobs which never seem to materialise".
He compared the "cliff edge" facing North Sea workers to the fate of miners in the 1980s, when many of the country's pits were closed and communities saw unemployment rise.
However, the UK's largest union Unison, which represents workers providing public services, was among those to oppose the motion.
Unison's Jo Tapper told the conference the union supported the need for "a fair transition" to renewable energy, including a comprehensive jobs plan for workers in the fossil fuel industry.
"Workers in the energy sector rightly expect to be heard and protected. But climate change doesn’t only impact on energy workers," she said.
"There are no jobs on a dead planet."
She added: "Jobs and communities can and should be protected by the opportunities created by the rapid expansion of renewables."
In Labour's general election manifesto, the party said it would not revoke existing licences for oil and gas and ensure a "phased and responsible transition in the North Sea".
It said North Sea oil and gas production would be "with us for decades to come" and "managed in a way that does not jeopardise jobs".
However, the party pledged not to issue any new licences because "they will not take a penny off bills" and "will only accelerate the worsening climate crisis".
Meanwhile, delegates also voted overwhelmingly in favour of a wealth tax on the richest 1% of the population to help fund public services and the NHS.
Along with other union leaders, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham warmly welcomed Labour's general election victory.
However, she told the conference that to "fix" the "broken" country left by the Conservatives, the government "need to do more than just move round the deckchairs".
More than 30,000 jobs are under threat from the government's plans to ban new licences for oil and gas production in the UK, unions have warned.
Delegates at the TUC Congress in Brighton narrowly voted in support of a motion calling for no ban to be implemented before a fully funded plan guaranteeing comparable jobs for all North Sea workers is agreed.
Proposing the motion, Unite and the GMB - the country's second and third biggest unions - said while climate change did pose a risk, fossil fuels should not be abandoned until workers knew how their jobs would be protected.
However, other unions opposed the move, arguing there are "no jobs on a dead planet".
A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: "The government has a non-negotiable commitment to securing a proud future for the North Sea.
"This includes setting up Great British Energy, a publicly owned energy company headquartered in Scotland, which will invest in technologies that will make us a world-leader in industries that use the expertise of North Sea workers such as floating offshore wind and carbon capture and storage."
Keir Starmer facing flashpoints with the unions
Starmer vows to prevent oil communities withering
Cliff Bowen, who sits on Unite's executive council, told the conference the issue would be "the biggest test of Keir Starmer's mettle".
"Environmental action is required but exporting jobs, skills and destroying working class kids’ futures, while moving production abroad, is just burying our heads in the sand," he said.
Mr Bowen warned of "false promises of green jobs which never seem to materialise".
He compared the "cliff edge" facing North Sea workers to the fate of miners in the 1980s, when many of the country's pits were closed and communities saw unemployment rise.
However, the UK's largest union Unison, which represents workers providing public services, was among those to oppose the motion.
Unison's Jo Tapper told the conference the union supported the need for "a fair transition" to renewable energy, including a comprehensive jobs plan for workers in the fossil fuel industry.
"Workers in the energy sector rightly expect to be heard and protected. But climate change doesn’t only impact on energy workers," she said.
"There are no jobs on a dead planet."
She added: "Jobs and communities can and should be protected by the opportunities created by the rapid expansion of renewables."
In Labour's general election manifesto, the party said it would not revoke existing licences for oil and gas and ensure a "phased and responsible transition in the North Sea".
It said North Sea oil and gas production would be "with us for decades to come" and "managed in a way that does not jeopardise jobs".
However, the party pledged not to issue any new licences because "they will not take a penny off bills" and "will only accelerate the worsening climate crisis".
Meanwhile, delegates also voted overwhelmingly in favour of a wealth tax on the richest 1% of the population to help fund public services and the NHS.
Along with other union leaders, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham warmly welcomed Labour's general election victory.
However, she told the conference that to "fix" the "broken" country left by the Conservatives, the government "need to do more than just move round the deckchairs".
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