Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 17 May 2022
Reaching net zero cannot be about just hitting a target. I think that everyone in the chamber agrees that we must drastically reduce our emissions. That agreement is testament to the climate movement. However, not everyone agrees on how it must be done. For me, as a socialist and a trade unionist, our path to net zero must redistribute wealth and power from landowners and chief executives to ordinary workers and households across the country.
Although the Scottish Government’s motion contains warm words about the opportunities that are available to island communities through a just transition, there are still significant gaps when it comes to explaining how the transition will be made reality. We must see real support for offshore oil and gas workers, we must create well-paid secure jobs in the offshore wind sector, and we must have a strategy for community owned, produced and distributed renewable energy. The Labour Party is in Parliament to give voice to organised labour. That is why our amendment makes it clear that we want a worker-led transition for offshore oil and gas workers, including those who live on Scotland’s islands.
Our transition to renewables must address the lack of training standardisation and skills transferability in the offshore energy sector, so that workers who want to get out of fossil fuels and work for a renewable future can do so without facing additional training costs. I believe that that can be achieved through the creation of an offshore training passport.
We should not stop there. Our transition must also empower workers through trade union recognition, sectoral collective bargaining and an end to casualised work. The Government should use every opportunity to promote those goals and should, whenever possible, lead by example in the public sector.
Members will be aware that I have been working with the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers and with climate campaigners from Friends of the Earth Scotland to secure a commitment from the Scottish Government to support, at least in principle, the introduction of an offshore training passport. Although I have spent months raising the issue in Parliament and engaging with the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity, the Scottish Government’s position appears to be that the same failed market that has exacerbated the issues of skills transferability and a lack of training standardisation is now best placed to address those issues.
Although ministers claim that they have no formal role within existing legislation to address those issues, I believe that they can use their office to show political leadership and to drive progress forward. I am pleased to hear that the Scottish Government will support Labour’s amendment, but I would like it to go further; I would like the Scottish Government to commit today to providing a statement to Parliament that will set out its vision for standardisation in the offshore energy sector, and to giving regular parliamentary updates on its progress. If the Government really wants skills standardisation, it should not be shy about being accountable for that.
As well as calling for a worker-led transition for the oil and gas sector, Labour’s amendment also recognises the need to create secure and well-paid jobs in the offshore wind sector. That is sorely needed because, so far, the Scottish Government has chosen to outsource jobs and offshore wind capacity in order to enable multinational companies to turn a profit at the expense of workers and communities here in Scotland. Given the consequences of the Scottish Government’s decision to outsource jobs through the ScotWind auction, Labour believes that it must now take a proactive role in the creation of secure and well-paid green jobs here in Scotland. Financed by the proceeds from the ScotWind auction, a Scottish renewables fund could invest in the development of skills and the creation of jobs throughout Scotland’s offshore wind supply chain.
However, it is not only job creation in energy that needs work. The ownership model of energy should also be explored. A public model of energy generation and distribution would cut out the profit motive, meaning that the lowest cost for consumers could be realised and the best pay and conditions for workers could be won.
Given that some local authorities have explored bold measures such as council-owned renewable energy to help in their transitions to net zero, I urge the Scottish Government to work with island communities to explore the potential for community-owned renewable energy as part of their net zero transition.
I conclude by urging the Scottish Government to move beyond the limitations of the motion and to be bolder in its ambition for Scotland’s island communities in their transition to net zero; to deliver the worker-led transition for offshore oil and gas workers that they expect and deserve; to create well-paid secure jobs in the offshore wind sector, instead of lining the pockets of multinational companies through outsourcing; and to support island communities in meeting their long-term energy needs by supporting them in exploring the potential of community-owned renewable energy.
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