Get down to Vestas - Occupy, Camp, Resist, Cook, Produce!

Also at the camp is a caravan serving as a site/campaign office, a standpipe for freshwater, a chemical toilet, a bike-powered smoothie maker (in bits), a fair amount of solar capacity and salvaged sealed lead acid batteries providing the bare minimum of power to charge radios, phones and a laptop. There's a recently erected marquee, and a 'living room' of sorts, with comfy chairs and an ever-burnin' oil-drum brazier. There are even spare tents and sleeping bags rescued from being sent to landfill post-Bestival. The weather is generally better than the mainland, the ferry trip is expensive but beautiful and exciting. The locals and welcoming and supportive of the campaign, and the island is full of beautiful countryside including plenty of Mighty Oak trees.

The three main aims of the campaign and camp are to achieve:

1. Full reinstatement of the 11 workers sacked for occupying their factory in an attempt to save the jobs of 600 employed there - these workers have still not been paid any redundancy though to pay them equivalent redundancy to the other workers would cost Vestas a tiny £45,000. The workers are also campaigning for a better redundancy package for all workers.

2. Wind turbine production on the Isle of Wight. If Vestas want to shut the factory, they must sell it. If no buyers come forward, the facility should be nationalised and placed under worker's control. Caroline Lucas has put forward a proposal for the factory to be run as a Workers' Coop to the local council under the Sustainable Communities Act. A female ex-worker has also put together a business plan based on such an idea.

3. Serious Government policies and plans regarding the promotion of industry producing renewable energy equipment, and for renewables to provide the required share of national electricity in the UK. The St. Cross site was the UK's largest renewable's facility and for the Government to allow it to close as they speak loftily of Copenhagen and 1 million new green jobs is hypocrisy of the highest order.

This is a great campaign, not only because of the clear justice of the aims, but because it is a positive campaign (rare in the Climate and Labour movements), because it is a winnable campaign, because it is a radical campaign, a campaign that has used Direct Action from the start, because it is a campaign with huge local, national and international support, and with huge significance, and huge capacity to inspire further actions.

Those of you who know about the Occupied Factory Movement in Argentina following the December 2001 economic collapse there should know that Vestas is our Zanon, our Brukman - we need to devote energy to this campaign.

Those of you who don't know about the Argentine Movement should seek out Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis' film 'The Take' or look up the slogans 'Occupy, Resist, Produce' and 'Que Se Vayan Todos' on the net...

There have been arrests recently and an eviction of a 2nd blockade camp by 120 mainland police at 6.30 am one day last week.

Support in the form of donations, visits (however short) and solidarity actions is warmly received!

see: savevestas.wordpress.com for more info, and irregular updates!