Electricity supply industry needs EU workers’ skills

Electricity supply industry needs EU workers’ skills

Conference delegates voted overwhelmingly for the electricity supply industry sector to continue Prospect’s work to protect the interests of members who are EU nationals.



ESI Conference 2017 delegates

The motion also called on the executive to lobby the government to ensure that the industry can continue to employ and recruit skilled staff from other European countries.

Moving the motion for the executive, deputy general secretary Dai Hudd said Brexit posed significant challenges for a number of the union’s industries – including electricity supply.

Many of the skilled workers required in many Prospect areas have come from the EU, he said.

“The insecurity that now exists for them individually, and the impact on the future skills needs of our various industries, is significant,” he said.

Hudd cited government vets in the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as one example. Nearly 70% come from Portugal and Spain and oversee the UK’s livestock, food supply and clean, healthy farms.

Without them, an entire part of the UK economy would come to a standstill, he said.

This also affected people in the electricity industry. “To support this motion is about dealing with the consequences of Brexit, regardless of which way you voted in the referendum,” he said.

Allen SaundersAllen Saunders (National Grid) said he was not convinced that using EU labour was a good thing. This could impact on the availability of local jobs and training and keep wages down.

But Tasos Zodiates (EDF Energy) said that even though it may be right to seek out people from the UK to develop and train in the first instance, this was not always possible.

He felt that bringing EU nationals to work in the UK was a better option than offshoring whole swathes of work to countries like India.

EDF Energy had done this for most of its computing output, leading to the use of cheaper labour. The company had also started offshoring technical, engineering and design work.

Chris HardyChris Hardy (Scottish and Southern Energy) did not feel that Brexit would prevent the UK employing EU nationals, as they would be welcome if there was a job to come to. The same would apply to people from Africa or elsewhere, with Brexit expanding the potential workforce.

Jonathan Sleep (Western Power Distribution), pictured below right, said Prospect needed to ensure that the door was left open to members from European states, with their experience and knowledge, or “we’ll be cutting off our nose to spite our face”.

Jonathan SleepHe added that much equipment was produced in other European countries rather than the UK.

In response, Dai Hudd said there was very little evidence that EU nationals kept UK wages down, and stressed that the motion sought to protect Prospect members already working in the UK’s industries.

Photographer: Stefano Cagnoni