The author Martin Williams specialises in investigations particularly involving finance and business. The submission relates to an exclusive investigation into how British workers were being replaced by cheap foreign labour to serve Scotland's green revolution after the Home Office agreed to extend a migrant worker extension and it has led to plans for a mutiny on one offshore wind project. We used first-hand accounts, an interview with one executive and an employment agency manager and used leaked documentary evidence to show how Scots were being laid off in favour of foreign nationals - citing two different incidents. We discovered how one British-based crew had been let go on the day they were due to start work on one of Scotland's largest offshore wind farms - with recruiters citing the extension of the Offshore Wind Workers Concession (OWWC) rules which allows the employment of cheaper foreign nationals on offshore wind projects. We revealed the extent of the fight against the OWWC which allows companies to skip the usual post-Brexit immigration restrictions and employ foreign nationals to join vessels engaged in the construction and maintenance of offshore wind farms. Originally introduced in 2017, we revealed how the government has repeatedly renewed the 'temporary' concession and done at the time of the article, extending it until April 30, 2023.
We heard from union sources that stated that a British deck hand would be paid £18 to £20 an hour and were to be replaced by cheaper Asian workers.
They say it is the first blatant signs of the extensive use of the preference for cheap foreign workers off Scotlands shores that has been widely rumoured.
One offshore service and supply ship shipping company told us that their crew salaries were ine with at least the national minimum wage which is at £9.50 an hour.
We saw papers from staff that showed how the workers on the vessel were given their marching orders by recruiters on the very day their contract was due to start and they were due to join the vessel. They were to be replaced by a Filipino crew that had previously worked on it.
In another incident on another vessel British workers were told that they were being let go with mainly Malaysian workers replacing them.
It resulted in political pressure on the UK Government closure of the loophole - and the issue was raised in Parliament. As of earlier this year we discovered that the loophole was closed.
