SCOTLAND’S economy secretary Keith Brown is under pressure to call a summit with unions and employers about claims of “poor employment practices” for workers in green energy projects backed by the Scottish Government.
The Sunday Herald previously reported claims that Eastern European workers were being paid just £50 a day for work building a waste incinerator at the Dunbar Energy Recovery Facility (ERF).
However, GMB Scotland secretary Gary Smith has now written to the minister expressing concerns that poor working conditions are becoming more widespread in the renewable energy sector.
Smith said there had also been allegations about employment rights being eroded at the Polmadie Recycling Centre, near Glasgow
In his letter to the minister, Smith said: “Ensuring that hard-fought minimum standards and basic employment rights are adhered to should be a pre-requisite of any public contract in Scotland."
Smith added: "The silence from the Scottish Government is a worry. The Scottish Government is quick to promote their fair work agenda and the prospect of a renewable energy jobs boom but the issues that have affected projects at East Dunbar and Polmadie suggest a distinct lack of fairness and shared prosperity in the green economy.
"I am anxious that steps are taken now to ensure that a joined-up approach is taken to safeguarding these projects against the multitude of problems which will result from poor employment practices becoming the norm in the engineering construction industry, especially on what are public contracts."
In response, a Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We are committed to fair pay and tackling inequality and have already taken action through the Fair Work Convention and promotion of the Living Wage, including paying at least this level to all those covered by our pay policy."
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