Hundreds Protest At Redcar Energy Site.
Up to 400 protesters are expected at the gates of the Wilton International site in Redcar this morning.
Up to 400 protesters are expected at the gates of the Wilton International site in Redcar this morning.
It is part of the ongoing row linked to the construction of a £250m major new power plant which will convert waste to energy.
Union the Union claims that SITA Sembcorp – who’re behind it – won’t respond to their information requests about pay rates and contractor numbers.
They have concerns over cheap labour and a lack of jobs for people on Teesside.
Unite the Union’s regional officer, Steve Cason, has warned people driving on major roads around the site about major disruption and delays.
He said:
“There are delays and issues getting onto site but people need to realise that the issues that affect people are a concern to everybody. So we do apologise, but the protest is set to continue for the foreseeable future.”
“If local people have not got jobs then it has a knock on effect for everybody. So what we want is equality and fairness. We’re not interested in where people come from to work at the site. We want to make sure that the rates of pay are not being undercut.”
A spokesperson for SITA Sembcorp UK said:
"Continued protests and unfounded allegations about the employment of “cheap foreign labour” at the Wilton 11 project site do nothing to change the fact that all workers on this project, irrespective of their nationality, have rates of pay equivalent to, or higher than, each of the unions’ relevant national agreements.”** ** ** “Despite these allegations, both the terms of employment and welfare of staff on site are very good - which is why, to our knowledge, none of the workforce delivering this project have been involved in the union protests to date, or expressed dissatisfaction.” **“We have made every reasonable effort to engage with union representatives, and to respond to their requests, so we are therefore hugely disappointed that these protests continue."