Jeremy Corbyn to speak at rally for jobs in Fife

Energy workers, factory workers, retail workers, trade unionists and the wider Fife community will be joined by politicians across parties, including Mr Corbyn, Peter Grant MP, Annette Drylie and Tam Kirby (Fife Trades Council), co-leader of Fife Council, David Alexander, and Claire Baker MSP.

The rally has been organised in response to the loss of jobs at the furniture makers Havelock, pay talks breaking down at whisky firm Diageo and a lack of work in the BiFab fabrication yards in Methil and Burntisland.

The march is being organised by Fife Trades Council with the support of STUC. It is the latest development in the ‘Fife – Ready for Renewal campaign’ to bring good quality renewable jobs to Fife.

The campaign began when it was revealed that EDF, the French-owned electric utility company, planned to ship work in fabricating wind turbine jackets abroad to Indonesia instead of building them in Fife yards. These yards are a mere 10 miles from the site of the proposed windfarm which will host the wind turbines.

Trade unions and workers are calling on EDF, and energy giants Red Rock and SSE, which have won contracts for large windfarms on Scotland’s east coast, to provide meaningful renewable contracts for the yards.

The march will meet at 11am and march off at 11.30am from Kirkcaldy town square. This will be followed by a rally at the Old Kirk.

Grahame Smith, General Secretary of the STUC, said: “Fife has a proud industrial history, and we must see this return in the form of renewable jobs.

“Renewable energy is one of the key ways we can stop the tide of climate change, and with the yards lying empty and the wind turbines sitting off the coast of Fife, it only makes sense to have the word carried out locally.

“There are workers standing ready to help deliver this work. Fife needs a real industrial strategy that will create the thousands of renewable jobs that have been promised over the years.

“We urge companies like EDF, SSE and Havelock to do the right thing and create jobs that will be good for the environment, good for workers and good for the local economy.”