Vestas in court to end factory sit-in

Wind turbine company will seek possession order to remove workers occupying its factory in protest against its closure
Paul Lewis
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 29 July 2009 07.00 BST

Vestas sit-in protester describes life inside the factory Link to this video
A Danish wind turbine company will appear before a court in the Isle of Wight today seeking to end the occupation of its factory by the workforce.
Around 20 men at the Vestas plant near Newport have occupied the building for the past nine days to protest against its imminent closure.
The company says its factory must close, with the loss of 625 jobs, because the UK wind turbine market is not growing fast enough.
Today its lawyers will seek a possession order from Newport County Court, a move that will set in train the process expected to authorise the arrival of bailiffs to remove the workers by force.
Hundreds of environmental protesters, who have supported the workers' campaign, are planning to attend a rally outside today's hearing, which is being heard in a neighbouring crown courtroom to accommodate the large number of press and interested parties.
More activists are expected to arrive today. Ticketholders who had planned to attend the recently cancelled Big Green Gathering - a four-day event in Somerset featuring music, debates and practical green living demonstrations that was to have begun today - have been urged to head to the Isle of Wight instead.
If the possession order is granted, it is not clear how soon bailiffs could be called, or if additional permission will need to be sought from the court to end the occupation.
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), which will represent the workers in court, has advised workers that bailiffs could be "waiting in the wings" to empty the factory quickly.
Bob Crow, the RMT's general secretary, will address a second rally outside the plant later in the day.
Last night, Vestas sacked 11 employees it has identified as participating in the "sit-in", a move that will prevent them from receiving compensation for their redundancy.
The workers were informed in letters inside food parcels delivered to them by the company.
"Underneath each slice of pizza we had a letter saying we had been sacked and we're not receiving any money," said Michael Godley, 26, speaking from inside the plant on his mobile phone.
"Everyone's gutted – there's some people in here who have lost a lot of money. But it hasn't deterred us in any way – we're still as determined as ever and we're going to carry on fighting."
The letter from a representative of Vestas had yesterday's date scribbled in pen, and stated: "As a result of your participation in the industrial action and refusal to give up that action, you leave this company with no choice other than to terminate your contract of employment with immediate effect."
Godley added that if bailiffs arrived the workers would "go peacefully", but their intention was to stay. "We'll stay in here until they come and get us out, or until we get what we want. We're here for the long haul. We don't plan to leave any time soon."
The Vestas occupation began after lobbying of the workforce from Workers' Climate Action, a group of socialist environmental campaigners who have camped on the island for the past month.