This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/hampshire/8173723.stm
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 1 | Version 2 |
---|---|
Turbine firm fails to end sit-in | |
(about 5 hours later) | |
Wind turbine company Vestas has failed in an attempt to force workers staging a sit-in at its Isle of Wight factory to leave the building. | |
About 25 workers have been occupying the Newport offices since 20 July after the firm announced plans to close the factory, with the loss of 625 jobs. | |
A judge at Newport County Court ruled that removal papers had not been served in accordance with legal rules. | |
The case was adjourned until Tuesday. Eleven employees have been sacked. | |
'Procedural issues' | |
The court heard that there were "procedural issues" in the way that the court summons were served. | |
Vestas had named individuals in its court summons and should have served papers to each of them. | |
However the firm only served them to one of the protesters inside who said he would pass them on, the court heard. | |
The Danish company is expected to serve court papers later by alternative means later if it can demonstrate it cannot get into the building, and will deliver them outside. | |
Vestas said it could not get in to the property without force because it was secured from the inside. | |
A hearing should have also taken place on Thursday, but the rules require three clear days after papers are served before the next court hearing. | |
'No other choice' | 'No other choice' |
Vestas has blamed its decision to close the factory on a lack of demand for wind turbines in the UK market, despite the firm's profits rising. | |
The factory was scheduled to close this Friday. | The factory was scheduled to close this Friday. |
Sit-in protester Ian Terry told the BBC that they intended to leave the offices "peacefully" if they were forced out. | |
He said: "We are not going to resist but we are going to be in here as long as we can." | |
When it announced the sackings, Vestas said it had "made several attempts to encourage the employees participating in the occupation to discontinue their participation". | |
We are not going to resist but we are going to be in here as long as we can Ian Terry, protesting worker | |
It said: "Vestas therefore, unfortunately, saw no other choice than to dismiss the 11 employees, who the company has positively identified as the employees currently participating in the occupation of the factory." | |
The workers are not union members but trade unionists have joined the campaign to keep the factory open, as have environmentalists. | The workers are not union members but trade unionists have joined the campaign to keep the factory open, as have environmentalists. |
The Campaign against Climate Change and the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) organised a rally outside the Department of Energy and Climate Change in central London on Tuesday evening. | The Campaign against Climate Change and the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) organised a rally outside the Department of Energy and Climate Change in central London on Tuesday evening. |
The Save Vestas rally called on the government to spend more on green energy. | |