Vestas sit-in six call on country to show support

Rachel Williams
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 5 August 2009 18.22 BST
Six workers who have been staging a sit-in at Britain's only major wind turbine factory for more than two weeks called today for a national day of action to support their attempt to save it from closure with the loss of more than 600 jobs. The men, who say they are determined to remain inside the Vestas Wind Systems plant on the Isle of Wight until bailiffs come to remove them, want people around the country to show support on Wednesday 12 August by downing tools for an hour, holding a rally or hanging up a banner.
Meanwhile many of the workers who left the occupation yesterday of their own accord returned to the site, on an industrial estate outside Newport, to support their colleagues from the outside.
Asked what the experience inside had been like, Chris Ash replied: "The Big Brother house." He explained: "You've got to ration all the tobacco, all the food, you've got to wash stuff in the sinks. It's really tough. Being away from your loved ones, not being able to do normal stuff.
"When you came out on the balcony and could see your friends and family outside, that was hard. You'd think, 'Can I do this?'"
Since leaving, Ash said he had had a shower, a shave, seen his cats and treated himself to some fish and chips. After that it was straight back to the plant, where he spent yesterday evening and has been since early this morning.
"I plan to stay here for the forseeable future," he said. "The lads inside are doing a tremendous job. I couldn't physically do it any more."
Like Big Brother housemates, the occupiers have gone to some lengths to keep themselves amused. Michael Godley revealed that he and another worker who has come out had written a musical about the occupation using alternative words to well-known songs including Michael Jackson's Beat It and Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive. The men have acted it out and filmed it, ready to screen when they have all left the building.
Godley called on people around the country and on the Isle of Wight to show their support to the men left inside. It is thought the company will not act quickly to remove them. "We need more islanders to get involved, especially the other workers," Godley said. "There's 600 of them who have already got two weeks' extra pay and more redundancy money because of what we've done. We need them to get on board."
On Tuesday Vestas won a repossession order allowing it to remove the men. Four then left of their own accord, while the others vowed to stay on. Another five activists are occupying the roof of another site owned by the Danish company, in East Cowes. They have set up a climate camp on the steep sloping surface complete with tents, a kitchen and a toilet.